Is God Good?
“May you always choose to believe that God is good and that he has good for you, no matter the circumstances.” So part of my prayer every night over my boys goes. These words are as much for my boys as they are for me.
Some days it is quite difficult to believe that God is good.
Other times it can be challenging to trust that God is bringing about any semblance of good for us.
Still yet, some circumstances are so bleak that it can feel as though God is actually against us.
Suffering and The Goodness of God
Life can be hard. We have all experienced at one time or another death, loss, pain, or disappointment. These are unmistakable parts of life that can leave us full of sorrow, grief, and confusion when detached from a God who sees and deeply cares. Jesus tells his disciples in John 16 – this life will bring with it great troubles. In other words, suffering and loss come for us all at some point in life – even for those who follow Jesus.
The life of Jesus was a life marked by suffering – even unto death. When we choose to follow Jesus, we follow him also into suffering. A significant part of our spiritual formation as followers of Jesus is to learn how to suffer and grieve as Jesus did. Despite the suffering and difficulty in life, Scripture is clear: God is love, and love ALWAYS brings about good. Paul reminds the Romans of this truth: God will always bring about good for those whose trust is in him.
There are undoubtedly times and seasons where the truth of God’s goodness can feel like a far-off fairy tale. When we are going through seasons of intense difficulty it can be difficult to trust in the goodness of God; especially when these seasons are prolonged.
Circumstances Change
Circumstances change constantly over the course of one’s life. Up and down, backwards and forwards, joys and sorrows; life is ever-changing. In fact, the way we relate to God changes over the course of our life. One day we’re over-the-moon grateful to God. The next day we’re fighting with him.
We are constantly presented with choices in life. One of the most important choices we have in this life is what we choose to think about. What we set our minds on will set a trajectory for our life. What happens when our minds are filled with good thoughts about God? We naturally are drawn closer to him. Inversely, when we allow our minds to be filled with bad thoughts about God, we are drawn farther away from him. Now, this could easily devolve into the power of positive thinking: just think good thoughts about God and you’ll be fine. But that is not the pattern we see in Scripture.
Bold Honesty and Anchoring Truth
The way we “choose” to believe in God’s goodness is presented to us in Scripture as one of rooted honesty. All throughout the Psalms we see a boldness that presents the honest reality of the circumstances of life. The Psalms are filled with cries of “death encircling,” “wicked prospering,” and “enemies trying to kill.” We see the same bold honesty with the prophets. Habakkuk is one in particular who actually clearly and boldly presents to God his disgust with the way he was handling things.
But look further and we see that those honest cries are buoyed by the truth of God’s character and reminders of the ways he’s been faithful throughout history. So yes, death is encircling (the circumstances are horrible), BUT, so the Psalm goes, “he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one…he has listened to his cry for help.” The ongoing dialogue Habakkuk has with God in light of his displeasure with God’s handling of situations is punctuated with an impassioned prayer proclaiming the truth that God is Habakkuk’s strength and God will make him to thrive – no matter how bad the circumstances get.
Reoriented Perspective
There’s a saying our pastor says every Sunday at the start of service. He begins, “God is good…” To which the congregation replies, “all the time.” And then he responds, “All the time…” To which the congregation closes, “God is good.” In all honesty some Sundays I don’t much feel like participating in this liturgy. But each week, I’m given a choice…
In our choice to trust in the goodness of God there is room for bold honesty, but it must be anchored in the truth of God’s character and reminders of his faithfulness over the years. We need both. The bold honesty allows us to express how we feel in a given moment or season. The truth of God’s word allows us to put the circumstances in perspective. It may not change our circumstances, but it reorients them towards the overarching truth of God’s faithful goodness to his people over the course of history. We have to actively choose not to simply stop at our circumstances or we’ll undoubtedly be swept away by life’s difficulties and sorrows.
It’s in light of this that we can honestly say, “God is good, all the time…even if it doesn’t feel like.”