SEARCHLIGHT
Can God really be great and good when life experiences and circumstances are overwhelming and bad things are happening?
SCRIPTURE
“BECAUSE OF THE LORD’S GREAT LOVE, WE ARE NOT CONSUMED, FOR HIS COMPASSIONS NEVER FAIL. THEY ARE NEW EVERY MORNING; GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS. I SAY TO MYSELF, ‘THE LORD IS MY PORTION; THEREFORE, I WILL WAIT FOR HIM.’ THE LORD IS GOOD TO THOSE WHOSE HOPE IS IN HIM, TO THE ONE WHO SEEKS HIM; IT IS GOOD TO WAIT QUIETLY FOR THE SALVATION OF THE LORD.” LAMENTATIONS 3:22-26 NIV
SPOTLIGHT
Many children have been taught to say grace before eating their food by praying, “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food. Amen!” Maybe you were led by your parents to pray this way. The prayer makes two points. The first is that God is great. He is sovereign, which means He is in control. And that is true because God is Creator, Master Designer, Ruler of the universe, Architect of life, Almighty, Holy, and all powerful. The second point is that God is good. And many people add, “All the time,” because He is loving, accepting, forgiving, patient, understanding, giving and healing, etc.
You have no difficulty believing God is great and God is good when life is sweet and filled with sunshine, but questions arise due to your emotions when you have to walk through a fire. Disappointments can lead to discouragement, which can lead to depression, which can birth doubts. That poses some significant problems. Suddenly, what you believe in your head is being challenged by what you are feeling in your heart. How is God really great and good when life experiences and circumstances are overwhelming and bad things are happening?
I heard of one man who was raised in a very Godly home. He had the firsthand privilege of experiencing the greatness and the goodness of God. His parents showed him by example and everyday living. However, a time came when he felt God calling him to become a minister. At 17 years of age, he said no to God because he was afraid that God would send him to a mission field and also make him marry a very ugly wife. He believed that God was great, but was not sure that God always had good plans.
The book of Lamentations describes Jeremiah expressing the sorrow and pain felt by the Jewish people, because Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonians. When you read the Scripture passage above, you must remember this staggering context. Jeremiah is reminding the Jewish people that all is not lost. God is great and God is good in the midst of undesirable life experiences. Interestingly, the prophet does not say that God is great because of His power to deliver, but because of His love which comforts, strengthens and sustains. The Lord may discipline His children for their benefit, but it must never be understood that He stopped loving them. The discipline was done in love. God’s compassion and faithfulness are as new and fresh as the light of the rising sun, every morning. Then Jeremiah adds that God is good and always merciful to those who do not lose hope, but instead seek and wait for God to do what is best.
The truth is, God is great. Psalm 145:3 states, “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom.” The psalmist testified when he wrote, “I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.” [Psalm 135:5,6.] David prayed, “For You are great and do marvelous deeds; You alone are God. Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart that I may fear Your name.” [Psalm 86:10,11.]
The truth is that God is good. All the time. He only has the best in store for you as you follow Him. God’s goodness is always your best. He is your Heavenly Father who can only good give you good gifts. Even if it is discipline. An older person who had seen both good and bad times in life, testified about God being both good and also great. “Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God, You have done great things. Who, O God, is like You? Though You have made me see troubles, many and bitter, You will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth, You will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again. I will praise You with the harp for Your faithfulness, O my God.” [Psalm 71:19-22a.]
God’s greatness and God’s goodness are not incompatible. You need to live out the truth that God is both great and good. Will you allow God to be both great and good to you all the time? Just trust Him with all your heart and do not lean on your reasoning. [See Proverbs 3:5,6.] As the above Scripture verses indicate, the key is to put your hope in God, seek Him, and wait for Him to show His greatness and goodness. He will show you the way of salvation not only from your sin, but from terrible situations. By the way, that young man learned this lesson, experienced a great ministry and married a beautiful wife.
SOMETHING TO DO
Did you know that the heavens, seas, fields and trees, rejoice at the fact that God is great, and God is good? [See 1 Chronicles 24-34, and Job 5:9 and 9:10.]
SOUL TIME PRAYER
Almighty God, thank You that You are also my Heavenly Father. You are great. You do miracles so great. You are also a good, good Father. I worship You and give You praise. Show me how to trust You in all the areas of my life. AMEN!