Most of the time in church or at home, we use the phrase ‘God is good’! Someone preaches from the pulpit, saying God is good, and the congregation shout back in unison, ‘All the time!’ This is a rhythm we all know and love. However, what happens after the rhythm and the church meetings come to an end, when you are faced with a challenging world? Will you still be confident to say, ‘The Lord is good’? The scripture says, ”O taste and see that the LORD [our God] is good; how blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favoured by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him.” (Psalm 34:8 amplified version)
The goodness of God should not be seen as how good we feel. We should not judge how good our Creator is based on how smooth our roads are. When we have no traffic, our bills are paid and our family is well, then we say God is smiling down upon us. However, when we enter a season of challenges, we start to question how good God really is. We ask ourselves, if God is good, then why am I going through this?
Think about how amazing it is that God can take the worst parts of your life and create something beautiful! His goodness redeems, restores and turns what was going to destroy you into something that defines you. Lift your head up! The almighty Creator of the universe is not sitting back with his arms crossed waiting for you to fail. He is working behind the scenes, creating favour, orchestrating a breakthrough for you. His goodness is your protection and security.
Understanding how good God really is, we have to forget the world’s definition of goodness. God’s goodness is not a feeling. His goodness is not fickle. His goodness is who He is, and who He is literally made up of – God is good. Due to Him never changing, His goodness is absolute and an unstoppable force. Once you really understand this, you will be freed from the ‘survivor’s mindset’ and start embracing living with expectancy.
Instead of dreading what comes next, you will start looking forward to what God will do. You will realise that your enemy has no say in your future. What you have been diagnosed with, your broken heart and money issues are just part of the story. God is going to bring glory in your situation!
In order to have a solid foundation in our faith, we need to understand that God’s goodness works in a completely different way from how the world around us define goodness. The world’s goodness is fragile. It depends on how well we have slept, how stressed we are or how deserving the person in front of us is to receive our goodness. God’s goodness is not fragile. It is sovereign and firm. Psalm 23:6 says, ‘Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.’ The Hebrew word used for ‘follow’ in this verse is radaph. This is an aggressive word. It literally means ‘to chase’.
This changes our perspective completely. We are not meandering through life hoping to catch glimpses of our far-off God. His goodness and mercy are chasing us! They are chasing us down the dark valleys, following us through our mistakes and running after us when we try to hide away.
God’s goodness is also multi-layered. Sometimes we receive goodness that gives. We receive the amazing gifts from heaven, miracles and doors opening. However, His goodness is also seen in the doors that remain shut. How many times have we cried over a relationship or career opportunity only to realise years later that God’s ‘No’ was actually an act of mercy? He knows the beginning from the end and will always choose our ultimate transformation over our comfort.
HIS GOODNESS IS HIS PRESENCE!
Sometimes we can get too caught up in theory, but faith is built in the challenges of life! To show you just how firm God’s goodness really is, I want to share a testimony with you where there was zero hope. However, the presence of God in the situation shows how the presence of God became the goodness of God!
I read about a dedicated husband and father called Mark. He was a God-loving man who served his community and ran a small ethical business. Within a space of 6 months, his whole life fell apart. An economic downturn meant he had to close his business and left him with a mountain of debt.
Whilst Mark was having a regular health check-up, doctors discovered he had a severe aggressive neurological issue. Within weeks a marathon runner was lying in a hospital bed, watching his body fail him and his family face financial ruin. As family and friends sat by his side on this fateful day, the machines were beeping and clicking around them. Mark looked at his friend with sad eyes and said, “They keep telling me to hold onto God’s goodness, but how can I when my wife is struggling to buy food and my legs won’t work? I feel like I’ve been forgotten.”
There were no easy answers from the friend. They both cried and prayed, pouring their hearts out before God. Three days later Mark’s health started to quickly decline. His lungs began to fail, and he was put into a medically induced coma. The outlook wasn’t great, and the specialists gently told his wife Joyce to prepare for the worst. They didn’t think he would make it through the weekend.
On Friday night Joyce was sitting alone in the chapel. She was completely exhausted and couldn’t pray or speak scripture. She just sat on the floor with her knees pulled to her chest, crying. In her brokenness, she gave up. She prayed, “Even if Mark doesn’t wake up and even if she has to raise their kids on her own whilst they have a mountain of debt, she will not let the enemy make her believe God is a monster. She said, “I don’t understand this valley, but I choose to believe you, Lord, that you are good.”
Within the next 72 hours, everything defied science. On Sunday morning Mark’s vitals suddenly stabilised. By Sunday afternoon his lungs were working on their own. When he opened his eyes, he wasn’t confused. He looked straight at his wife and smiled. He spoke clearly.
Over the next week, the neurological team ran some new scans and tests. They couldn’t believe what they found. His aggressive inflammation had completely cleared, and there was no longer any scar tissue on his spine. There was no scientific explanation. His neurological system had completely reset. Now Mark not only walks but also runs! His business was miraculously restored through an unexpected partnership, and within a year his debts were cleared.
However, if you asked Mark about his miracle, he would tell you his biggest healing was in his spirit. “The miracle wasn’t that God saved me from the bed. The miracle was that in the darkest point of my coma, when my mind was dark, I could feel God’s presence like never before. I realised He wasn’t standing far away watching me suffer. He was in the bed with me, keeping my heart beating. His goodness isn’t the absence of challenges but His undeniable presence.” Don’t allow the noise of your situation to distract you from the truth. If God could do it for Mark, He can do it for you. If God could part the seas yesterday, He can still calm your storm today. Walk boldly into tomorrow knowing that you are completely seen, fiercely loved and aggressively pursued by an endless supply of miracles.
Mark’s testimony is incredible, as he had a miraculous result. However, we must not base our theology purely on the times we see God parting the seas. True Christian maturity is seen when we look at the cross of Jesus Christ and believe this to be the ultimate proof of His goodness, regardless of our current situation. If God never did anything good for you again, then the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary is more than enough to prove His character. He gave up His perfection for your brokenness. He took the wrath you deserved and gave you an extravagant grace which you will never deserve.
When your mind is racing and the enemy is telling you God has abandoned you, you need to stop listening to yourself and start talking to yourself. Remind your spirit of the eternal truths. Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” This is the ultimate logic. If God loved you enough to give you His most prized possession, Jesus, why would He not give you the daily goodness, strength and comfort you need to get through your current challenges?
If you are reading this and currently going through a heavy and challenging season, then please know that although you are feeling alone, this is not the truth. Your situation is just a part of your story. Stop looking for God’s goodness in the big turnarounds and start looking for it in the little everyday mercies. It’s in your breath right now. It’s in the friend who texted you out of the blue. It’s in the supernatural strength you had to get out of bed this morning.
God is good! Not because you are living the best life yet but because He is perfect. Let go of your defences and stop trying to act for an approval you have already received. Let His amazing goodness chase you down today. Turn your heart towards Him and lift your hands in your challenges. Whisper to Him, ‘Thank you, Lord, for your goodness in my life and in my family. If you do this, I decree and declare a new chapter of celebration, victory and vitality in your life in Jesus’ name.
May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you peace.
