He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. -Deuteronomy 32:4
And we know that in ALL THINGS God works for the GOOD of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. -Romans 8:28
I know these scriptures, and I know they are true. I know that God is good, all the time. I know that by His nature, He cannot be anything other than good, because He IS good. And on a sunshiney day, that's not hard for me, or any Believer, to profess. But what about when it gets a little cloudier?
I was recently reading "Fearless" by Max Lucado and the following passage caught my eye and heart. And it made me chuckle.
"If only we could order life the way we order gourmet coffee. Wouldn't you love to mix and match the ingredients of your future?
'Give me a tall, extra-hot cup of adventure, cut the dangers,with two shots of good health.'
'A decaf brew of longevity, please, with a sprinkle of fertility. Go heavy on the agility and cut the disability.'
'I'll have a pleasure mocha with extra stirrings of indulgence. Make sure it's consequence free.''I'll go with a grande happy-latte, with a dollop of love, sprinkled with Caribbean retirement.'
Take me to that coffee shop. Too bad it doesn't exist. Truth is, life often hands us a concoction entirely different from the one we requested. Ever feel as though the barista-from-above called your name and handed you a cup of unwanted stress?
'Joe Jones, enjoy your early retirement. Looks as if it comes with marital problems and inflation.'
'Mary Adams, you wanted four years of university education, then kids. You'll be having kids first. Congratulations on your pregnancy.'
'A hot cup of job transfer six months before your daughter's graduation, Susie. Would you like some patience with that?'"
The reality is, the majority of the time life does hand us something we aren't expecting. Sometimes the change is more drastic and heartbreaking than others. Maybe it is a job that fell through. Or you were planning a wedding and now you're not. Or you thought you had one last Christmas with someone you love, and then they died. Or you thought it would never happen to you, and now you have cancer. Or maybe, you watched the news in horror as we all learned about young and innocent lives being stolen this past Friday.
Sometimes what life gives us is unthinkable, unimaginable. Gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, can't-sleep-can't-eat-can't-breathe kind of stuff. Then can we stand and confidently say "My God is good."? Because this is when it counts. This is when those who don't know Christ look to us and wait to see how we will respond. This is when it matters most. When we are broken and things are not as they seemed and we are disappointed and life as we know it is falling apart, then can we declare the goodness of our God?
I posted this a while ago, but I want to reshare a story I read in "Erasing Hell" by Francis Chan.
"Years ago, I came across an article entitled, 'Two Minutes to Eternity' by Marshall Shelley, one of the editors of Christianity Today at the time. In the article, Marshall tells the story of the miraculous birth of his son. When the child was in the womb, Marshall and his wife, Susan, found out that their child had an abnormal heart and would probably not survive the birth, if he even made it that far. And so the Shelleys wrestled with God. 'This was a design flaw,' Marshall writes, 'and the Designer was responsible.' So they prayed. They prayed for a miracle, they prayed for survival, they prayed that the God of all creation would give the child the breath of life.
Then the day of birth came, and the child was still alive. The child had survived the pregnancy! God is so good! As the child was born, Marshall looked upon his beautiful son: 'He was a healthy pink, and we saw his chest rise and fall. The breath of life. Thank you God.'
And then the child died. Two minutes later, their son turned from pink to blue, and he died. The miracle of life was followed by the mystery of death. And as far as the Shelleys were concerned, the Designer was responsible. When the nurse asked the Shelleys if they had a name for the child, Susan responded: 'Toby. It's short for a biblical name, Tobiah, which means 'God is good.''
God is good.
God is good? How could they say that? How could they believe such an unbelievable attribute of God, when everything in that moment seemed to be proving the opposite? Because the Shelleys believed that God is good not only when He makes sense to us, but even when He doesn't. God is good, because God is God. Goodness is inherent in who He is. And the Shelleys believed this. 'The name was what we believed, not what we felt,' Marshall writes. 'It was what we wanted to feel again someday.'
And so, brothers and sisters, it is times like these that we must declare to each other and to the world, God is good. He has not forgotten us. He has not forsaken us. He is faithful, and He is good.
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