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Is God Still Good?
Is God Good?
I mean, really, really good?
My answer, even now, in this crazy, self-isolated world, is a resounding, “YES!”
God is good.
Maybe your answer though, is different.
Maybe your answer is a definitive "no".
Maybe you’re wondering,
“If God is so good, then why does He allow bad things to happen?”
If this sounds like you, you should know, you’re not alone.
This is an age-old question and is one commonly queried in both Christian and non-Christian circles alike. It can, for some, be a difficult one to ponder.
I believe God is good, because the Bible tells me He is good.
In Matthew 19:17, Jesus responds to a rich man’s question,
"Teacher, what good thing must I do to earn eternal life?”
with, “Only God is good.”
Psalm 34:8 says,
“Taste, and see, that the Lord is good!”
Psalm 145:9 declares,
“The Lord is good to all, and He has compassion on all that He has made.”
Scripture is chock full of statements, of truths, proclaiming that the Lord is good.
A.W. Tozer states,
“The goodness of God is infinitely more wonderful than we will ever be able to comprehend.”
God is good.
I believe that with all my heart. I could share hundreds of scripture verses, and at least as many inspiring quotes, that talk about God’s goodness to us. But the truth is, if you haven’t experienced His goodness for yourself, none of these scriptures or quotes are going to resonate with you.
Here’s the thing.
I really wanted to write something eloquent and beautiful and even quote-worthy,
that would somehow convince you,
in spite of these crazy times;
in spite of the whole world moving closer and closer toward lock-down;
in spite of your fears, your anxiety, your hopelessness;
and maybe even in spite of your anger;
that God is good.
But, the truth is, I can’t. I cannot convince you that God is good; that He is still good, even during this worldwide pandemic. The only One who can convince you that He is good, is God Himself. And the only way He will be able to do this, is if you allow Him to.
Because of our sin, you and I have been separated from God. Actually, because of sin, the whole world has been separated from God.
In the beginning, God created mankind in His very own, perfect image; to love, and be loved perfectly, by a perfect God. But, we decided that who and what He created us to be,- a reflection of Him - was not enough, so we turned our backs on the One in Whose image we were created, and set out to find our identity apart from Him. We bought into the worlds idea that we don’t need God to live a whole life. Or, perhaps more precisely, we bought into the worlds idea that God is holding us back from living a whole life. We literally decided that we would be better off without God.
When we turned our backs on God, we separated ourselves from Him.
When we separated ourselves from Him, sin entered the world.
And when sin entered the world, bad things began to happen.
Do you really want to know why God allows bad things to happen?
It's because of us.
It's because of mankind.
It's because of me, and because of you.
I realize this sounds overwhelming, crazy even, but everything bad that happens, is because of us. Genesis tells us that, when God created the world, it was good. And when God created us, mankind, it was very good. Genesis also tells us that God gave us the responsibility of taking care of the earth; He literally gave us dominion of the world. But we made a mess of things. We separated ourselves from His goodness. We brought sin into the world. And ultimately, we were the ones who initiated every bad thing that ever has, and ever will, happen.
Beloved, you and I, broke the world.
We broke it when we broke our relationship with Him.
And that broke God's heart.
But!
God, because of His great love for us, because of His ultimate goodness to us, provided us with a way back to Him. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to bridge the gap we created when we severed relationship with Him. God literally gave His perfect Son over to be crucified, to carry the weight of our sin on the cross, so that we might have intimacy with Him once again. He wants to break the hold of sin on our lives, so that we can experience His profound goodness, just as He originally intended.
But that can only happen if we allow Him in. If we turn from our sin, and back to Him, if we choose to enter into relationship with Him through the Son, Jesus Christ, He will lavish His love on us.
Even when things are hard, or maybe, especially when things are hard, we will see Him in His goodness. We will really experience what His goodness feels like. We will literally "taste and see" that He IS good!
And when we truly experience relationship with Him, when we really begin to know and understand how great His love is for us, we will no longer question whether or not He is good.
We will know it.
We will know that,
regardless of heartache,
regardless of an unknown future,
regardless of all the bad things that can and will happen in the world,
God is good.
He is still good.
He is always good.
And that, beloved, will be enough.
