Diving Deeper – Is God Really That Good

Greetings Dear Reader,

If you've been burned, here’s what I've learned; the Lord’s not the one to blame. – Keith Green

Let me first say a resounding “yes” to the above question.   I do not for an instant wish to give the impression that there is any other valid answer to this question.  The question, however, is one that we ask every moment of every day.  It is the question Adam faced in the garden.  He had to choose between the goodness of the Father and what Eve had done.  He had to answer the question if God would forgive Eve so he could keep her.  Is God good enough to make a way for me to still have this relationship?

For me it is the constant question of is God good enough to provide for my emotional, social, and physical needs.  Do I really believe that God loves me enough?  When I say yes I do well.  When I say no I sin.  Instead of embracing this truth I try to make things work out the way I think is best.  This always fails.  Worse, when I am truly following Christ it gives those around me little confidence it that following.

If I do not live in every choice as if God is good then I hinder the ability of others to see that he is good.  If I do not make my faith and following choices based on the continued and eternal goodness of God then I will make bad choices.  I can only build a deeper faith if I put into that faith the sure knowledge that God is good to me.

After all, how can I have any hope if I do not believe that one with whom I wish to share my destiny is not good?  Is this not how we get disillusioned?  Is this not how faith fails?  I know it how interpersonal relationships fail.  When I stop believing that another person is good then I lose faith in him or her.  This is a root of divorce and division in families.  It is key to the way in which parents in children fail each other.  It is not those failures, however, that define the goodness of God.

But God is good.  He knows us intimately and will be good to us.  He knows the path ahead and wants us to believe that he is good and to accept that goodness by faith.  It is what he asked of Adam.  It is what he asked of Israel even when they were enslaved in Babylon.   It is what Christ asks in the Sermon on the Mount.  It is his desire that I trust in his goodness and follow in faith.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster plans to give you a future filled with hope. Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will hear you. When you look for me, you will find me. When you wholeheartedly seek me, I will let you find me, declares the LORD. I will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I've scattered you, declares the LORD. I will bring you back from the place where you are being held captive.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."