It is hard to fully comprehend the goodness of God, yet it is core to our faith. Not only does God give us good and perfect gifts, (James 1:17 – TPT: Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect, streaming down from the Father of lights, who shines from the heavens with no hidden shadow or darkness and is never subject to change) but He Himself is good. (eg. Psalm 100:5).
I love this quote from Bill Johnson, “ Our faith can only go as far as our awareness of God’s goodness.”
We were recently visiting South Africa. In fact, the entire trip came out of the indescribable goodness of God. But I can only say that every day, the goodness of God went before us and made a way for us. From the big things like finance for the trip, timing re COVID (if we had come back 3 days later it is unlikely we would have been able to travel back or we might have been quarantined for an extended time upon return). However, it is in the details that I often see the goodness of God emphasized to me.
We had decided to meet my father and his precious wife, Barbara at the Kruger National Park. We really love going on safaris and so do my dad and Barbara, so this was ideal. Usually one has to book months in advance, but we got in right away. There are some animals that one does not take for granted you will see, for example, a Leopard, Cheetah… We saw a Leopard on the way in and a Cheetah the next morning. A detailed blessing of a heart’s desire given to us from the goodness of our Father.
This trip was arranged very quickly, in fact, it took two days to put together. For an international trip that is amazing. Ken did want to preach while he was there and that took ten minutes to arrange. Again, a detail, given to us, from the goodness of God.
A.W. Tozer says, “With the goodness of God to desire our highest welfare, the wisdom of God to plan it, and the power of God to achieve it, what do we lack? Surely we are the most favored of all creatures.” and, “The goodness of God is infinitely more wonderful than we will ever be able to comprehend.”
We truly stand in awe at the goodness of God. That obviously does not mean there is nothing to face, but our God has poured His goodness over His people again and again in 2021. We have seen the Lord provide in the midst of companies closing down and real financial challenges for many. We have seen the goodness of Jesus bring freedom to people so very often. We have seen Him bring healing to people physically. We have seen relationships healed, people stepping into the more that Jesus has for them, a deep hunger stirring up in the depths of people’s beings, praise on the rise, tears of tender worship flowing, etc. Thank you for your goodness, Lord.
Obviously, there are many people still going through really hard trials in life. But be encouraged to press into praising and worship God in the midst of trials. Set your eyes on Him, the author and perfecter of our faith. As we fix our eyes on Him, we will see the goodness of our Lord. Even in the midst of trial, our hearts will be strengthened and encouraged as we look upon His goodness, then we will see that our Lord does indeed turn all things to good for those that love Him. “But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow!” John 10:10b – TPT. Our God is THAT GOOD.
