“God is good!” We say it all the time, right? Well, we say it a lot – especially when things are going well – right? Admittedly, it is easier to say when things are going our way – but we may need to let the truth of this quote by Ann Voskamp sink in and stir our hearts to praise Him even when life doesn’t seem “good”. Here’s a recent example in my own life … as we waited for the ambulance to come the evening mom fell and broke her femur – in the midst of all the other thoughts going through my mind came this one thought – God thank you that she had her phone with her this time! It was a conversation she and I had had many times because she never kept it with her or knew where it was … but on this late afternoon, when I was out for the evening and most likely wouldn’t have checked on her until much later – she had it with her and I found myself saying over and over – in the midst of the trauma that was unfolding … in the middle of all the unknown that was ahead of us – God you are so good to have had her phone with her… and that one praise led to a host of others. You are so good to have given us friends/family that could get to her quicker than we could … You are so good to have kept her from hitting her head, just inches from a massive table leg that would have surely done damage … You are so good to have kept the spinal injury from being more serious … The ‘declaration’ became a saving grace as we waited out that long night in the ER …
YOUR TURN – HOW HAVE YOU SEEN HIS GOODNESS IN THE MIDST OF THE NOT SO GOOD? Feel free to share your response in the comment bar
Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
John 8:12
Father, You are Good. As James says, You are the giver of every perfect gift, James 1:17. You are the giver of the gift of LIGHT and LIFE to You be the glory. For in your goodness You have given us The Light that shines in the darkness. Light that leads to life according to John 8:12. Light that frees us to follow Jesus out of the darkness. It frees us to to be the light to the darkness around us, to love like He loves, to be kind and tenderhearted, forgiving others as You, in Your goodness, have forgiven us. It is a light, the only TRUE SOURCE OF LIGHT, that shines through us and leads others to You.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:16
Thank You for the ‘gift of Light’ that has led me to Life in Jesus Christ, and for the joy that comes from both. Joy that comes from not walking in the darkness but in the glorious light, and in the joy that comes from ‘life in Christ’, 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
Psalm 34:8
Father, You are good! My mind never doubts this sustaining TRUTH. You are simply and yet profoundly good. My heart rejoices in Your goodness to sustain, to love and teach, and to build up those who now belong to You. In Your goodness You brought us in and have transformed us from strangers and from enemies to members of Your family, not simply or haphazardly brought in but carefully joined together in Christ.
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 2: 19-22
In your goodness You protect and strengthen, You comfort and encourage, and You fill us and guard us with a peace that passes all understanding. Surely, as the Psalmist wrote, You guide us on paths of righteousness for Your namesake. However, I have learned that even when we walk through the valleys that seem dark and lonely and covered with the daunting shadows of sorrow, discouragement, and fear – in Your goodness You are also there. I find You quietly dispelling the shadows with the gentle reminder from your Spirit that we have no cause for fear or discouragement, for in Your goodness You will strengthen us and You will help us. You will hold us up with Your victorious right hand.
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
My mind is riddled with a series of questions that beg to be asked. Why do You love us who were Your enemies? Why have you made us part of Your family and continue to build us up into Your Holy Temple? Why do You lead us and show us the right way to go or dispel the shadows in the valleys? The only answer that comes is this: You are simply and profoundly good! Even if I had not tasted and seen Your goodness for myself – You, proclaimed Yourself to Moses as – “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth”, Exodus 34:6.
Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
Psalm 34:5-7 NKJV
One final question lingers – what is my response? To which I gladly and humbly answer – relying once again on Your goodness … Answer graciously this prayer my God – that I might convey the truth , reality, and depth of Your goodness in my thoughts, both written and spoken, and in my life lived out, so that others might truly know and forever share in Your goodness through Christ Jesus my Lord – Your good and perfect gift of salvation to all who believe.
“For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23
How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.
Psalm 31:19 NLT
Want to know more about the goodness of God, salvation through Christ, eternal life, or how to get through the valleys? Reply below or message me at mryelnb@aol.com –
Father, You are Good! And Your goodness beckons me to draw near. My heart longs to walk closer and closer to You in this world of hurts and disappointments. Hurts and disappointments not just in the world but the truest heartbreak is in seeing and experiencing believers pitted against, or simply not loving, their fellow believers. My soul is filled with anguish and with sorrow – a sadness that is wearing on my mind and heart and causes me to seek You even more! To seek and to know Your guidance, comfort, and peace, Your strength, mercy, and grace – not only from You to me but from me toward others; and yes, Father, forgiveness toward others even as You have forgiven me. I also seek your healing Father – both of Your people’s hearts and minds and of my own weary and downcast soul. Hear my prayer Father – hear my prayer in Jesus’ name.
And Your Spirit replies …
Why are you discouraged? Why is your heart so sad? Put your hope in God! Praise Him again—your Savior and your God!
And because You are good – ALL is well with my soul. Sin and shame are covered in the blood of Your Son. Fears are covered with Your peace that passes all understanding. Sorrows are comforted by Your all-compassionateLOVE. Needs are met from Your glorious riches that have been given to me in Christ Jesus. Through Him Your mercies are new every morning and I find Your all-sufficient GRACE daily meets me where I am – to offer love, forgiveness, guidance, wisdom, strength, and everything I need for life and godliness. – In the light and presence of such goodness – is it any wonderthatmy heart singsand resonates with the words of this song?!
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.
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Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
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My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!— My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
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For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live: If Jordan above me shall roll, No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
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But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait, The sky, not the grave, is our goal; Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord! Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
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And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Even so, it is well with my soul.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his[a]; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Father, You are Good! The music of the morning has reminded me of Your great faithfulness – How Your mercies are new every morning and Your compassions never fail. For, as the lyrics boast, “there is no shadow of turning with you”. You do not change – You are the same yesterday, today, and forever! “As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be”. We’ve exited Daylight Savings time and the night temps have begun to dip into the freezing range – but You don’t change! You created the sun, moon, and stars. You alone placed them in their courses above where they join with all of nature in manifold witness to Your Great Faithfulness, mercy, and love! All I have needed You have known and faithfully provided – including pardon for sin and a peace that endures amid chaos and stress and fears and sorrows. As the song says – “Your Presence is always with me to cheer and to guide”. And even on days when I feel weak and the events of life paint a picture of hopelessness – Your strength is with me everyday and Your truths fill me with bright hope for tomorrow! I know Your blessings are with me for I have seen and tasted Your goodness, the greatness of Your faithfulness, and the depth of Your love!
For the law made nothing perfect. On the other hand a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. 20 And since this was not done without a sworn affirmation—for the others have become priests without a sworn affirmation, 21 but Jesus did so with a sworn affirmation by the one who said to him, “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever’”— 22accordingly Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.23 And the others who became priests were numerous, because death prevented them from continuing in office,24 but he holds his priesthood permanently since he lives forever. 25 So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. 26 For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Hebrews 7:19-26
Father, You are good! And what greater way to see Your goodness than through Jesus Christ, our Guarantee of a better covenant. The covenant of GRACE rather than law! I see Your goodness in Him who saves completely (perfectly) those who come to You through Him. Because He lives forever – interceding for us who have through FAITH believed. I see Your goodness in providing a better Priest — One who, Himself, is HOLY, and separate from sinners. The One who is exalted above the heavens and who offered Himself as a sacrifice on my behalf!
Yes Father, I see Your goodness – the depth of it – through JESUS CHRIST – my Lord!
Without father, without mother, without genealogy, he has neither beginning of days nor end of life but is like the Son of God, and he remains a priest for all time. Hebrews 7:3 (NET)
Father, you are good! And in your goodness, You have given me a Great High Priest. – One who is not born of human descent but sent from heaven. One with no beginning or end – in the order of Melchizedek. One without Sin! One who not only offers a sacrifice on my behalf but who is my sacrifice. Whose Righteousness covers me. Whose peace and love fill me. And one after whom I am being transformed. There is much HOPE in Your goodness and in my Savior and High Priest – Jesus Christ! May His love and light shine brightly through me – today and every day.
Father, You are good and in Your goodness You have given me much needed rest and I praise You. The enemy has been quick to target my mind with fiery darts of the past but Your Spirit has been faithful and quick to remind me to – take captive every thought to make it obedient to Jesus Christ! (2 Cor. 10:5) Help me to do this throughout today and everyday and to encourage others to do the same – so that,
The words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart may be pleasing to you, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14
Me From the Inside Out 