IS GOD GOOD?

True confession---I too have feet of clay----when I heard or read the statement "God is Good"----I would find myself questioning--cringing--wondering if the one who made the statement lives in LaLa Land.  SURELY if God was good, I would not be where I am today!  Would a Good God have me to live alone for the remainder of my days?  Is it good that I have been left to question what is wrong with me and readdress my short-comings yet again?  Is goodness seen in illness, death, suffering, abandonment, rejection, loss, and the rest of the list of pain inducing maladies?  Those very words-

God is Good

Good is God--have been a major stumbling block for me.  It has not been an easy step to reconcile the Goodness of God with the plight of many in this fallen world.  In Sunday's sermon, I was reminded that I am not the one to set the meter for what is good and what is not.  My qualifications for goodness are not those of God.  Once again, I have set myself upon the throne by dictating the definition of goodness and regarding His actions with disparaging leeriness.

Among God's attributes---or the qualities of His character which NEVER change--He consistently maintains each of those traits---in the beginning and in the end-through all that the world and man throws at us---is His goodness, and even when we know that God allows bad things to happen to us---He is Good.  My daily struggle--I have to begin again each and every morning--has been the acceptance of His goodness.  When others are proudly claiming His goodness in their answered prayers--their life accomplishments---their  prosperity---it has left me questioning---Why not me?  If I saw a consistent pattern of extolling God's goodness while in the midst of struggle-

-perhaps that would have made it easier to accept His goodness while looking at my life and the lives of many others in similar places--but only rarely do I see "My life is a mess, but God is good" boldly proclaimed.  Thus --I stumble. 

My daily reconcilement of God's goodness and life's messes has finally come through Trust---Trust based upon faith---faith based upon experience.  Through experience I have learned that  God has faithfully been present--even in the storms and disasters----through my faith that God always is here by my side---I have learned I can trust him---because I can trust Him---I know and believe that He is good---In all this mess---when times look bleak--in the losses---in the pain--in the suffering--I trust He is good---AND ALL is ultimately for His good purpose---

 

I do not question any of the other of God's attributes.  Each of these attributes he consistently reflects---and He is these attributes---they are Him--He NEVER changes and does not waver from Whom He is.  If I accept and believe God is what He claims and has shown us in the Scripture---then I must accept He is good.  In His goodness---He understands  my struggle---and loves me in the midst of my doubt---for after all--He IS GOOD!

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever."

Psalm 136:1