God is Good…Always

 

 

HELLO!

I don’t know about anyone else, but as the saying goes, “Things have gotten real”… really quickly for me this year. God has been having me search my heart to see what I really believe and the enemy has been testing that belief any chance he gets.

Hopefully, you all have read my earlier post, God’s Faithfulness. If so, you know how He has already had me searching my heart since early January…discovering what I really believe, and how the enemy hasn’t wasted any time testing my discoveries. Well, the theme continues…

A little background.

During my Christian walk, I’ve had friends who wouldn’t sing certain song lyrics during worship for one reason or another. One particular song had the lyrics, “take, take, take it all, Lord” and my friend would not sing those words because she did not want God to take it all. =) Then there are other songs today that are popular and they contain lyrics like, “You’re never gonna let me down” or “You have never failed me yet”, and there are those I know who will not sing those words because they do not believe them to be true. They either feel like God has let them down or failed them or maybe He will.

At first, I wasn’t sure what I thought about it, but now, I actually respect it! I think it shows that they take worship seriously and they’re not just going through the motions and singing songs without any thought to the words. Maybe it shows that they are careful with the words they say or sing because they believe that God is listening and it means something to them and Him. We all have heart issues that God is longing to resolve and it is a process that each of us goes through in our own time. The first step is recognizing there is an issue. (No judgment here)

The most recent heart search with me happened on Sunday morning, February 11, during worship. Yep…it has to do with song lyrics…something like, “You never let me down”. As I sang those lyrics, I remembered my friend who would not sing those words and then I felt a gentle nudge from God followed by a simple question, “Do you believe that I will never let you down?”

Let me explain something that I have learned over the years. You see, when God asks me a question, I know that He is not asking because He doesn’t know the answer…no, He is asking because He needs me to KNOW the answer. How many know that there is a difference between ‘knowing something’ and “KNOWING SOMETHING”…and we need to KNOW what we believe about God. It cannot be just head knowledge…it has to be heart knowledge…experiential knowledge. We need to know what we believe and why we believe it so that when a storm comes, in our lives or maybe the life of another, we are able to stand firm and not falter and offer hope to those around us.

So during worship, we searched my heart. Yep…me and God. We took a journey back over some really hard times in my life. Times of heartbreak, betrayal, loss, lack and more and He asked the hard question (not so simple at this moment), “Do you believe that I will never let you down? Do you believe that I have never let you down?”

Did I believe this or was there something hidden in my heart…a lie that I had believed about God…and maybe I felt like He had let me down? Obviously, God needed me to search this out and know what I believed.

After searching, I was confident that I believed that God would never let me down and that in my life He had never let me down. He is good!!! His plans for me are good! My circumstances and situations have not always ‘looked good’ and may not always ‘look good’, but God is always good. He is always working ALL THINGS together for my good. (Romans 8:28)

We must learn to walk by faith and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) Our faith is our roadmap when we face a tremendous storm and the skies are so dark that we can’t even see what’s right in front of our face and we have no idea where our next step needs to be. That’s when our faith will guide us. We must know what we believe!!!

Usually, when God needs me to KNOW something, I can expect it to be tested. That’s just a common theme, too.

So…the test.

Monday morning, February 12, I received a phone call from my youngest son telling me that one of his best friends had been in an automobile accident on the way to school and she didn’t make it. She died on impact. He was heartbroken, in disbelief and a little confused. He just asked me to pray…to pray for Grace’s family and then he just talked about Grace for a minute. My heart was breaking into pieces…it was breaking for my son who was in pain, it was breaking for Grace…it was breaking for her friends who loved her…and it was breaking for her family.

Now, remember, it was just the day before that God and I had settled in my heart that He is good…always! That He will never let me (or you) down. He does not fail me (or you). It was settled.

Now, to wrap my mind around that truth and this situation…if it was even possible to do so. I had so many questions…but there was one question that I did not have. I didn’t question the goodness of God or if He had let anyone down or failed them. The answer to those questions was absolute…no matter what the circumstances surrounding me were.

I wish I had the answers for Grace’s family and friends as to ‘why’ this happened, but I don’t. I wish I had the answers to all the hard questions in life, but I don’t. I wish that KNOWING God meant I would never have any questions, but it doesn’t. I wish that being His daughter meant I would never hurt again and that nothing bad would ever happen, but it doesn’t. Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world where sin abounds and bad things happen.

What I do know is that God loves me (and you). He is always with me (and you)…He never leaves me (or you). (Do you believe that?) He wants to be my peace (and yours). He wants to bring comfort and heal my broken heart (and yours). There is nothing too hard for Him. There is nowhere I can go that He will not go with me (and you). (Psalm 139:1-12) Oh…if only we could grasp the depth, height, and width of His love!!!

There is a song called “Reckless Love” and it talks about God’s passionate, unrelenting, overwhelming, never-ending, chase me (and you) down kind of love. (I’ll share the video at the end of this post) There is no shadow He won’t light up, no mountain He won’t climb up, no wall He won’t kick down, or lie He won’t pull down coming after me(and you).

God’s word…alive and active in us…is our greatest weapon. The Bible is God’s “Last Will and Testament” for us!!! Every promise in it is Yes and Amen! They are all available to us today. He is our solid rock when it seems like everything around us in on sinking sand.

What do you believe about God? Do you believe that He is always good? Do you believe that He will never fail you or let you down? Do you believe that in the greatest storm of your life that He is there with you and He is working it all together for your good? Or do you have some questions?

I would like to leave you with this challenge. Ask God to search your heart and give Him permission to show you if there are any questions, doubts or any wrong thinking you have about Him. Ask Him to solidify who He is to you so that in the storm you can see clearly!!

Can you imagine how different our lives would be if our automatic response to every situation was to default to God’s word…the word that we KNOW and believe without any doubt!!! You talk about His kingdom coming and His will being done on earth as it is in Heaven! Let’s do it! Let’s solidify our foundation so that it cannot be moved and let’s bring heaven to earth.

Wes, one of my older sons friends, said something on Sunday that has stuck with me. He said, “If it’s not good, it’s not done”. If we can look at our situations and KNOW that if it doesn’t look good right now, that’s ok because God isn’t finished…He is still working it all out for our good and when it’s finished…it will be GOOD!