Is God Good All The Time?

You will be glad to know that the stomach virus has left the building....well, it has left our house for the time being anyway (although my stomach is making strange noises that are causing me some concern). After reading the comments from Tuesday's post, I have a feeling that I didn't express myself very well in writing that day. Maybe I should try to explain myself a little better so that many of you (who are not regular readers) do not think I am unsaved and searching for....well, searching for God......... ;-) I mean at one time, like all of us, I was searching for Him and I found Him on November 16th, 1986. No, my search isn't to find God........What I AM searching for is a deeper understanding of Who He is. Who He REALLY is.



As I said Tuesday, one of my "New Year's Resolutions" is to know God better. I use the term resolution loosely, because I am famous for breaking resolutions by January 2nd or before. When I say "know God better", I mean know better WHO He is, REALLY know His TRUE nature, know more of His character........I believe God is urging me to get to know Him more intimately and dig deeper when it comes to knowing His character...I don't know why He keeps bringing this up to me at this point in my life, but I am sure He will reveal His purpose in His own time (and in case you were wondering, yes, I am a little concerned by what the outcome may be, but I have no control over it, so.....).

How many of us have not heard "God is good all the time/all the time God is good"? I have been to churches where the congregation repeats this phrase in every service. It is something that rolls off our tongues pretty easily, but are we just saying words or do we really believe that God is good all the time? It's easy to believe God is good when your life is free from trials, but do you believe God is good when your life is in turmoil?

Psalm 100:5 says,"For the LORD is good and his love endures FOREVER; his faithfulness continues through all generations." His love endures forever - His faithfulness continues through all generations......This verse requires us to look at the big picture and not simply what is happening today. The big picture is what most of us have a problem with. We understand the immediate and not the eternal......but when we are saved, we become citizens of heaven....the eternal city. We we are saved our bodies need to be reprogrammed from Daylight Savings time to Time Eternal. John 5:24 says, I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life". A saved person can no longer view life in light of this world, but must view their life in light of eternity.

When we are in the midst of terrible circumstances it is easy to be caught up in the "why's" and forget that God has control of time, space, the universe, AND our present circumstances. The big picture is hanging on the wall in God's office, He painted the big picture, and knows it like the back of His hand. When all we can see is our hurt and pain, God is studying the big picture and keeping His master plan for our lives in motion so that when all is said and done, we can look back over our lives and see the scenes in the tapestry that make up the big picture. In order to truly believe God is good all the time, we have to get over the "immediate", squint our eyes really tight and try to focus on the big picture. That, my friends, is a "hard teaching".


In Luke Jesus is talking to the rich young ruler and says, "'Why do you call me good?' Jesus answered. 'No one is good - except God alone." God is the standard for goodness. Should make us think next time we tell someone they are "good"........even Jesus said only God is good. Jesus may have been trying to give the young man a subtle hint without shouting "I AM God, silly". Or Jesus may have been warning the worldly young man not to be impressed by earthly credentials that might prevent him from pursuing the True God...back in that day, there were plenty of "credentialed teachers" that did not teach the Truth, but taught religion. Jesus may have been warning the man not to focus on imposters because God is the only one who is REALLY good. Either way, we are told that 'No one is good - except God alone'..........No one.

So, if we believe the Bible to be the inspired, inerrant Word of God. If we believe it is true down to the last jot and tittle, then we have to believe God is good all the time because His Word tells us that no one else IS good except Him. Our standard of good is completely off base. The meaning of the word good is not what we thought it was, because none of us can ever be good (even at our best we are not good). We can throw our ideas of what is good out the proverbial window......ONLY God is good. And since He said, "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed." (Malachi 3:6 ).....I suppose the phrase "God is good all the time/all the time God is good" is VERY TRUE even when we cant see the big picture.