“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 Everywhere you turn; it seems there is a sad story…in our lives, on the news, in our schools, churches, at work, everywhere. As Christians, we turn what the world “worries” about over to Christ and we do that through prayer. What happens when you pray earnestly, with proper intentions, and God’s answer is not what you prayed for? What happens when your worst fears are not taken away, but realized. God is asking you, or someone you love, to bear pain that seems unbearable, unthinkable, un-survive-able. Is God still good during these times? Is He still there? Does He know what He is asking of us? Does He care? What do you do when God’s answer is, “No, my child.”? Or, “Not yet, my child.”? Or, “Yes, darling child, but not as you imagined it would be.” The writing team felt called to share with you where we stand in regards to the statement, “God is good – even when it seems bad”, in the hope you would be encouraged. There was a time in my life when so much was going “wrong” that I felt like God had dumped a truck load of manure on my head. Have you ever felt that way? Prayers are unanswered. Peace cannot be found. Pain grows with each breath. How is it that I was supposed to believe God was still good? My faith was shaken to its very core. I finally came face-to-face with Scripture and had a choice to make. Either God was still the God of the Old Testament whose name is Elohim, Strong One, who says to me, “Don’t be afraid. I am with you.” Either He was the God of the New Testament who silenced the storms and promises to always work our life’s events out to His glory. Or He wasn’t any of this- He was a fraud and a destroyer. I couldn’t accept that He was my enemy so I had to accept the other. I clung to Him as my Creator and Lover of my soul. It was all I had to hang on to. When I had only God to cling to, I changed the focus of my prayers. Previously, my prayers had been really good, but really mine. I was convicted to change my prayers to simply, “Not my will, but Yours.” I wanted all kinds of great things, but I dropped all that baggage at the foot of the cross. I walked away with only five words. Those five words were proof whether I really did trust God fully with my life. And that’s where I return every time things seem to point to God’s not being good. We probably would never put these horrific events in our testimonies but God has chosen to trust us with these circumstances so we must trust Him with them too. So do I trust Him or not? That is what it boils down to. Sometimes I fight with myself over the answer. I trust, but… No, that isn’t true trust. I have to trust completely. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good. Whenever I’m posed with the question, “How is God good when bad things happen?” I run immediately to the cross where Jesus faced the worst thing. Yet He was willing to bear the crushing weight of sin, to absorb the fireball of the Father’s wrath that should have been hurled at humanity, to be rejected so that we could be accepted. How could that possibly have been good? How could a good God willingly turn away from His Son? How could the Son also willingly offer His life? The powers of hell thought they’d won. The one called Messiah hung there dead. God lost. He was not powerful, and apparently, He was not good. But, oh, my friends don’t stop there! The plan was bigger, the goodness of God incomprehensible. On the third day Jesus rose conquering death and hell! Now don’t miss the radical nature of what Jesus accomplished. He purchased salvation. He satisfied God’s righteous wrath toward sinful men. He redeemed His own, buying back those who once went a whoring after other gods. While we were His enemies, He died for us. He is good. It is His very nature. From the heart of the Father, flowed the grand plan of redemption before time began. At the cross it came to fruition. God saved men from Himself. God saved men to Himself. Jesus faced the ultimate bad so that we could know the ultimate good. Life. Hope. Peace. Grace. Eternity. Reconciliation.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 13:33:07 +0000
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