God is Good. Period.
I had a week where everything seemed to be going wrong. Bad news hit me wherever I turned, and I was struggling to look for the good and be thankful. Every email, and every conversation sent me further into despair. Where did my faith go?
I had just gotten home from a national conference where I’d been blessed, encouraged, and yet saddened. My thoughts kept returning to some of the women I’d met there. Many of their stories were heartbreaking, some tragic. My friend, a seasoned counselor, said that one dear lady’s story was the worst she’d ever heard!
These women I’d met were hoping to write down their stories and give courage to others going through similar struggles. But I felt sad at the pain and injustice many had experienced. I was affected by these stories for many days afterwards, and then experienced my own (thankfully more minor) trials. Evil abounds in the world, and sometimes it can be overwhelming.
What do we do when we are overcome by it all? I kept praying, asking Jesus to help me and reminding myself that God is good. I asked Him to keep in my mind who He is. He is good all the time, even when I don’t see it or feel it, and I struggle to believe it.
God is good when my technology doesn’t work, and everything takes longer to get done than is reasonable. Even when I’m frustrated, and am powerless to do anything about it, God is good. God is good when I face painful rejection and discouragement. When everything seems to be going wrong, I know God is still good and still in control.
Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith “is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” A few verses later we’re told that by practicing faith, we please God. In fact, without it, it’s impossible to please Him at all!
God’s Promises
We are comforted by the promise that He will reward us and be pleased when we exercise our faith and pursue Him.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him
Hebrews 11:6
Another promise we can cling to is that He is working to change us more and more to be like Him. His loving hand is chipping away the stuff in my life that doesn’t glorify Jesus. These trials and discouraging circumstances we face are ultimately serving His good purposes. My husband said to me that week, “The Lord must be teaching you patience!” And I just happened (!) to be reading in 2 Corinthians.
“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:18
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
2 Corinthians 4:17
So what is true for me, and for you, and for those dear women I met at the conference, is that God is good. He is for us, not against us. He is working out His will in the universe and in our lives. We must trust His loving heart towards us and believe His promises. When we struggle to see the good, we must have faith.
