The Goodness of God

Something God’s been teaching me again is His goodness. We hear it all the time, but I don’t think we ever give much thought into how this should be directly affecting our lives!

When God created everything in the beginning, He called it good, and how could it not be! Everything was created through Him, so everything reflected His glory and beauty.

Then humans were made, designed specifically to reflect back to their Creator, the crown jewel of creation. But part of their beauty was in how they had a choice to reflect God, or become dull and dirty through sin.

In order to have the choice to reflect God, or reflect something else, there had to exist something else, and that something else is as simple as separation from God. If God is all that is good, then this separation is all that is bad, and unfortunately, we chose to embrace it.

When we chose to distance ourselves from God through the knowledge of good and evil, our eyes no longer saw God’s goodness in everything around us. We gained preference for certain items over another, and learned to call things created by our perfect God “bad”.

How often has the weather not gone according to plan, so we believe our day is ruined? How many times do we eat something we don’t like and say, “It’s disgusting!”? How do you react when your plans become replaced with God’s plans?

I’m not condemning anyone; I do all of these all the time, and have had far too many times when I allow what I feel to be the lens I view the world through. But I would like to point out just how blind we can become.

The same God who created the sun also created the rain. The same God who spoke the mango (my favorite fruit) into existence also spoke cilantro (something I can’t stand) into being. The same God who gives you a choice also still gives you the opportunity to partner with Him in everyday life!

Now, not all things in life are good, but they can all be used for good. Abuse stems from sin, but God can bring healing. Loneliness stems from separation, but God can use it to grow your heart. Sickness stems from us choosing the knowledge of good and evil, but God chooses to bring good out of that evil.

So when we’re tempted to complain about something, we should stop and ask ourselves a few questions.

Is this actually something stemming from separation from God? Or is it simply a preference? Can I shift my perspective to see God’s goodness in this?

If it is something that stems from sin, then can I see how God is already working all things for my good? If I can’t see it, then can I still trust that God is good, He’s at work in my life, and His work will also be good?