Do You Know That God Is Good? Loving God, part XX
God is good! He is good, isn’t He? But how do you know? Have you experienced Him?
There are a lot of clichés in the culture of the church. Amen, hallelujah, praise the Lord, give it to God, ‘let go, let God’, praise Jesus, and the list goes on and on. I realize that for a lot of people these are sincere statements and I don’t want to take anything from those people. But let’s face it, sometimes we say things without conviction. It’s easy to do.
I can honestly say that before I started regularly reading the Word of God and seeking Him, I would say the phrase “God is good”, but not really know it for myself. There was no way that I could. I really didn’t know God, so how could I know He was good (other than Scripture)?
Here the psalmist is recalling his personal experience:
Psalm 116
1 I love the Lord because he hears my voice
and my prayer for mercy.
2 Because he bends down to listen,
I will pray as long as I have breath!
3 Death wrapped its ropes around me;
the terrors of the grave overtook me.
I saw only trouble and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“Please, Lord, save me!”
5 How kind the Lord is! How good he is!
So merciful, this God of ours!6 The Lord protects those of childlike faith;
I was facing death, and he saved me.
God or coincidence?
God is good for all the little things He does as well. For many years I’d give “coincidence” the credit. For example, I would pray “God, please let me get to work on time.” when I was worried that there’d be a lot of traffic. So I would get to work on time, then I would think “I guess there wasn’t so much traffic after all, cool!” Whereas I should have been saying “Thank you, Lord, for helping me get to work on time!”
James 1: 17 Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
What can happen to some of us, I included, is that we can become complacent, or fall away completely. I’ve been “on fire” for God before, then years later I’d be lukewarm.
How would you like to learn of a way to remember God continually?
Joshua 1: 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
With Bible reading, praying, meeting with godly friends, and truly seeking God in all these activities, you will be put on God’s good path. Your life will change for all eternity.
Psalm 37: 31 They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path.
Why don’t we all commit to seek God and stay on His path? Then we can all say “God is good” with great enthusiasm and live a much richer life!
Can I get an Amen?!
“Dear Lord, I would like to get to know you better. You are good, I know that, but I want to see more of you in my life. Please do not let me take this life you’ve given me for granted. Help me to see all the little things you do for me and realize that they are from you. Thank you for your patience and keeping me on your path. I give you all the praise. In Jesus name, amen.”
Photo by Kate Remmer on Unsplash