the·ol·o·gy noun : the study of God We study God through His Word each Thursday on the blog. Our goal is to present the truth of God in a way you can digest and apply. This week we'll tackle the goodness of God described in verses like Psalm 100:5. Because I work on a blog titled LiesYoungWomenBelieve.com and because I often get the chance to speak to girls like you about lies and truth, people regularly ask me this question: "In your opinion, what's the number one lie young women believe?" I think they expect me to say something about guys or beauty or needing to fit in. While I've certainly seen plenty of girls tripped up by lies in these areas, I believe that the number one lie girls like you believe doesn't have to do with guys or friends. It has to do with God. In fact, I think the big fat lie that lots of other lies spring out from is this … God is not really good. Of course, we know we're supposed to say that God is good. He died on the cross to save us after all. Good doesn't really even begin to describe that sacrifice, does it? And we've seen Him do other good stuff in our lives. He has answered our prayers. We have felt His presence. But there are days, which sometimes turn into weeks, which sometimes turn into entire seasons, where a corner of our heart wonders, God, are You really good? Can I be honest? I'm having one of those days right now. My baby boy, Judah, has a very scary medical test this week. I don't like that he has a problem that I can't fix. I can't stand the thought of the poking and prodding he will soon endure. I've been praying for him to be healed for well over a year, and the healing hasn't come like I've wanted it to.
I'm choosing to grab onto the promises found in His Word and hold on for dear life. The more I cling, the more I see He really is good. I can know for sure that He has a plan to make sure even the bad stuff in my life will be worked for my good.
I trust the sovereignty of God. (Read more about that in last week's Theology Thursday post.) But if God is in control of everything and bad things still happen, how can He be good? I'm not the only one with these thoughts, right? When life is hard, do you ever doubt that God is good? When your prayers seem to go unanswered, do you ever secretly think it's because He's mad at you or trying to punish you? When you look at the huge problems going on in the world like war, terrorism, starvation, and disease, do you ever wonder, How could a good God let this happen? Questions like these are the exact reason we've got to trust what the Bible says about who God is. Our feelings can trick us. Our limited perspective of what's happening in our lives makes it hard to know what exactly is good for us and what isn't. That's why when we're tempted to doubt that God is good, we need to run to verses like these:
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations (Ps. 100:5). Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever (Ps. 136:1). The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made (Ps. 145:9).
The Bible is clear. God is good. In case there's still that nagging place in your heart that's saying, If God is really good, why hasn't He fixed this? this passage is just for you.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28).
In other words, a good God makes sure that even the bad stuff gets worked out to our benefit. A friend of mine paraphrases that thought this way, "This too shall pass and be redeemed." Do you ever doubt the goodness of God? Are there circumstances in your life right now that make you wonder if He really is good? Me, too! But I'm choosing to grab onto the promises found in His Word and hold on for dear life. The more I cling, the more I see He really is good. I can know for sure that He has a plan to make sure even the bad stuff in my life will be worked for my good. Too many girls have fallen for the lie that God is not really good. It's a lie that has a tendency to spread like a wildfire in our hearts. God's truth is that He is good and He is working all things for our good. Will you cling to that truth today?