"For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations."
{Psalm 100.5}
The Bible tells us numerous times that God is good and that if we trust in Him, everything, even the hard and bad things, will turn out good. He turns ugliness to beauty, hate to love, and bad to good. And that makes sense because God IS good. He is characterized by goodness. Now, that's a fact that seems obvious and simple. But, what does "good" really mean? What do we mean by "God is good?" It sounds just like the t-shirts that say "Life is good" with a cute lil flower or puppy with a bone on front of the shirt. God is more than just our simple, somewhat common and shallow definition of good.
The true meaning of that word is someone or something that is superior, sturdy, and strong. Is God superior? Yes. Sturdy? Yep. Strong? Oh yeah. I could just stop there but there is so much more to God's goodness than just that. His character, love, grace, mercy, and promises prove that He is indeed, good. Let me show you- Ephesians 2:4-5 tells us...
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together in Christ-by grace you have been saved."
Just this one verse shows us God's character and how he loved us no matter what. He forgave us for every single thing we have done and will do, forever. He turned his back on his Son who was bearing our sin and shame, because he loves us. He gave us the promise and gift of forgiveness and eternity in paradise with Him. He is good because he gives us the love, grace, mercy, and promises that we do not deserve. He allows us to have a relationship with Him, even though we are so undeserving. He is superior to us and on our own, we are not worthy of his presence, love, and forgiveness. However, because of his character and goodness, he makes it possible for us to draw near to him and know him. By knowing God, we are made more like him. We may think we are "good" people and by today's definition of good, yes we are. But, without a relationship with God that is wrapped in love, forgiveness, second chances, mercy, and obedience, we have no hope of becoming like Him. That is why we should be thankful every day for the relationship we have with Him. Because guess what? So many people don't have that gift. And they are missing out on the greatest treasure there is. If we do have that relationship we better cherish it, but also share it with the world. Let others see the goodness of God. Don't keep something so bright, beautiful, and precious to yourself.
In my life, I have seen God's goodness on display time and time again. I have seen how sturdy of a place it is to rest in the palm of God's hand. He has been my refuge and my place of safety and comfort. He cannot be shaken. The storms of life cannot tear him down. The schemes of the devil cannot bring him down. He is sturdy and he is greater than all things.Why? Because he is the creator of all things. Knowing that God is more powerful, sturdy, and greater than anything the world can throw my way, brings me great comfort. I am able to rest in the arms of the Creator of the universe. The arms of the one who took my sins away. The arms of the One who chose me. The one who loves me and never leaves me. What greater place of shelter is there than in the arms of Jesus?
I have also experienced the wonder of God's strength. A place of strength is a place that has been fortified and protects against attack of all kinds. My God is a strong God who protects me and all of his children against attack. He is on our side. He is on my side every day of my life. But how can he be on my side if he lets bad things happen to me? Well, it turns out the bad things he sends our way are out of love. Trials aren't a lack of God's love and goodness; God sends trials our way because of our own lack of faith and trust in Him. He sends hardships and struggles our way to real us back in when we have drifted away. And that is love. He won't let us run away if he isn't going to chase after us. For me, running away has always ended us bringing me closer to my savior. At times we think God isn't enough, he isn't the answer, or isn't what we need. But we are so dang wrong. In him, we find joy, peace, protection, comfort, and love. Because he is strong, we become strong. And when we become strong, we can defeat the devil. We can lift God higher and shower him with praise and glory.
As a believer, God has brought many trials into my life. But never ever has he sent one that could not be overcome. On my own, no i couldn't overcome them. But with God holding me up and fighting with me, I can. His goodness has been shown to me over and over again, and that is proof enough for me that he is real and his love never fails.
