God is Good All the Time!

A phrase we often hear in the Bible is "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever" (Psalm 106:1; Ps. 107:1; Ps. 118:1; and all through Ps. 136).

I find this phrase to be a very profound thought. The reality of life is...things are not always good. Often times really BAD things happen to us, or to those we love. So how is it that God is good all the time, and yet He allows bad things to happen to us.

For me, in the trials of life, I really cling to a verse found in Romans Chapter 8. There we read, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). First of all we need to understand what this verse is NOT saying. It is NOT saying that God CAUSES all things. No! There is sin in the world, and God does not cause people to sin, that is a choice. There is evil in the world, and God does not cause people to be evil, or to do evil things. Again, that is a choice.

What God does cause is this: He causes everything that happens in the world, good or bad, to work together for our good. It's kind of like making a cake from scratch. There are several ingredients that make up a lovely, tasty cake: I'm no cook, but I know that most every cake has, flour, eggs, sugar, oil, baking powder and/or baking soda in it. Now think about it...when you bite into that cake it tastes delicious, but what if you had to eat all those ingredients one at a time.

I think most of us would gag if we tried to eat the flour by itself. Some people can eat a raw egg, but I find it quite disgusting. What about the baking powder, have you ever dared to put even a little dab 0f baking powder to your tongue. These things don't taste good alone, in fact they can be disgusting or bitter. THE POINT: Things in our lives come at us one at a time. Some things are fun and good, like sugar or honey. Other things in life are difficult, sad, or bitter, causing us disappointment and grief.

But God is good, and He has given us a promise. He will take all these ingredients of our life and He will mix them together, stirring them up, so that they will come out good for us, making us better people, good people. Making us into the kind of people that can give Him the glory for all the good in our lives.

We also need to remember that if we didn't put the baking powder into the mix our cake would not turn out right. It took a very bitter ingredient to make the cake good. The point is that God knows us better than we do, and He knows that he must allow (not cause) some bad things to happen in our lives for us to turn out good.

The final point is this. Does God cause all things to work together for the good of everyone? The answer to that is, "NO!" The promise is made to those who love Him, for those who have been called according to His purpose. The question we must ask ourselves when going through the trials of life is this...Do I love God? Do I show my love for Him by living a life that is pleasing in His sight? Do I live for and according to His purposes in the world, or do I just live my life for myself and my own purposes of life? Bottom line: Do I fit the category of those who have been promise all things to work together for good?

That is something to consider, and something to live for, because the reality is... God is Good All the Time. But for those who live their lives apart from God, He never promise He would make things work out for their good. God is Good, but the Bible also says, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness..." If people choose to live apart from God they will certainly not experience His goodness.

I pray that you are experiencing the goodness of God as you love Him and seek His purpose for your life.