Everything Changes the day God is Good

As a follower of Christ, whether you realize it consciously or not, this statement “God is Good” is the very heart of either your joy and peace or your frustration.  If it’s your joy and peace, you understand this statement, you experienced something that’s hard to explain – you made it through a fire, you chose to push through your pain and understanding to pursue Him. And in a moment of time something in you changed, and you can never be the same. You are not trying to believe anymore, you just know. Everything you see or hear passes through a new filter, and the circumstances that used to make you doubt His goodness brings a renewed hope and excitement that He is about to do something incredible and miraculous again – I call it showing off.  I love watching Him show off for His kids.

It took me 45 years to be able to know with my heart and mind God is Good.  It’s not that I didn’t want to know, my mind just couldn’t comprehend what my heart was trying to tell me. For years and years I kept asking Him the wrong questions, from the wrong perspective.  I would read or hear a sermon that He is good but my mind would just accuse Him for any number of atrocities happening in the past or present. We don’t know what we don’t know, right?  I didn’t realize the truth, that I was judging the Creator of the universe from His Judgement seat, and in His mercy, He let me.  I judged Him by my vast intellect, years of wisdom and my very worldly view of justice.  My two favorite judging standards were “is that fair?  Is that being nice?”  By my mind’s standards, He was guilty a lot.  But I’m a Christian, and a good Christian can’t say God is not Good, even though my mind convicted Him every other day.  Here, buried deep in guilt and even shame was the dilemma, the frustration that kept me from trusting Him completely.  Some of us are here now, some of us have been in this place for 40+ years.  If you are reading this now there is good news, He is calling you out of this season!  He is preparing a way!

It took me acknowledging I have been in His seat.  When the weight of that realization hit me I went face down on the floor before my Creator asking forgiveness for idolatry, for being my own god. Then started the cry of my heart for Him to reveal to me His Goodness.  I still don’t understand how my mind got it, but God gave me a revelation through a circumstance that flipped a switch, all doubt in His Goodness was burned up, and I’ve never been the same.  Now 1 Thess 5:16-18 makes sense – Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in EVERY circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  If we have given Him permission to work our will out of us and His will in, and we believe He is Good, then He's Good in every circumstance.  It's our perspective that changes.  For you Matrix fans, it's the line "there is no spoon."
Boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth.

Neo: What truth?

Boy: There is no spoon.

Neo: There is no spoon?

Boy: Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

I pray your heart and mind’s cry will be for God to reveal His Goodness to you, and that you ask 1000 times a day until you receive it.  And when you receive it, that you ask 1000 times a day for those you love to receive it as you did.

It is a righteous request, one that lines up with His will.  Believe He hears you and you will have what you have asked for.

Only His revelation of Himself to you will last.  He is faithful and true.  His is good!

Scriptures: James 1:6-8; Jeremiah 9:23-24; Romans 12:2; John 17:1-3; 1 John 5:14-15