I guess deep down I have an issue with the phrase, "God is good!" and I'm not sure why, other than the skewed way it's often interpreted. The bottom line is that God IS good, and His goodness has nothing to do with our circumstances.
After a long, 11-year battle with infertility, we have the answer to our prayers: a baby growing in my belly! It's a dream come true and we praise God every day. But let one thing be crystal clear: God is not just good now that we have this miracle we've hoped, wished, and prayed for. He was good then and He’s good now.
It’s hard for me to hear, "God is good!" in response to this joyous news because while it's certainly true, it makes me think about the years we cried and struggled. Was God good then? What about season after season when the answer to our ongoing prayer was, no or not yet? What about the times when we were drowning in grief after another loss, standing in church seeing young families and soon-to-be-parents singing praises of God's goodness? From the outside looking in, it seemed like God was good to them. Did He forget about us? Where was this 'goodness' in our lives?
What about the road that taught us that God is good even when we don't understand, even when we question, even when we doubt? Did we have to walk that road to learn these lessons about God? I don't know, but I hope we never forget how that felt and what we learned along the way. Our circumstances don't change His character, His heart, His plan, His purpose, or even His goodness.
I often think about those who are learning what the goodness of God means despite life-altering news and devastation. How does this common phrase impact them? It takes a level of faith that doesn't come easily to trust that God's goodness is real, especially when those hard times come and stay for a while.
It can be a bitter pill to swallow when you've come face to face with your circumstances and you’re questioning the goodness of God. My hope is that these circumstances will stretch our faith, even though it’s uncomfortable at the time. My hope is that through the dark days we will see compassion and feel peace that we wouldn’t have otherwise known.
No matter your circumstance, our God is able, and He is good. That's something we saw then and something we're seeing now. May we never forget it.
