GOODNESS OF GOD
Our world today has a hard time distinguishing between good and bad. Look around at the news, our culture, and our values They are all changing so quickly as we see the virtues we had pride in before are now being. But Isaiah 5:20 warns us: woe to those who call evil good and good evil
What does it mean to be good? Evidence suggests we are all born with some innate sense of inality and fairness. We can agree that it is good to be kind, fair, and just. And that it is bad to cheat, steal, and murder. Even non-religious people know there’s some morality in this world. Losing weight is no longer the most often stated New Year’s resolution – it has shifted to a resolution to be a better person.
But we really don’t understand what the goodness of God is – until we actually see it. The bible defines the goodness of God seen in many passages, including Exodus 34:6, 1 Chronicles 16:34, and Psalm 34:8.
God is good, gracious, merciful, perfect, and generous. God created us, and He put those same characteristics in us. One way you can see this is simply in the sense of satisfaction you get when you do something good for someone else. Take the good feeling you get when you help someone else, and multiply that by a billion – that’s a glimpse of the heart of God.
FOUR THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE GOODNESS OF GOD
- God is good, He provides.
You can experience God’s goodness and generosity by the way he takes care of us. When trouble comes your way, don’t focus on the problem, but focus on the problem solver. When we struggle with fears, anxiety, oppression or depression, it often it represents lack of faith in goodness of God.
Psalm 27:13 – You can lose heart if you don’t believe in and trust the goodness of God.
Theone who gave you lungs gave you air to breathe. The one who gave you a stomach gives you food. The one who gave you eyes gives you beautiful scenery. The one who gave you an eternal soul gives you a pathway to heaven through Jesus.
Psalm 34:8 – Taste and see that God is good.
- God is good, He is patient with us.
God has incredible patience with us. He is a God of mercy and a God of grace. By His grace and mercy we are given what we don’t deserve. His grace and mercy never runs out. He never gives up on us. We don’t give up on our children, neither does God. His mercy and grace never run out. They are infinite.
Psalms 103:13-14 Lord – the Lord pitties those who reverence Him. He know our frame and remembers we are dust. He knows our limitations. God is also good to those who don’t know Him. He fills the world with “common” blessings – this is the grace of God available to saved and unsaved, good and bad, righteous and unrighteous. You don’t have to be a Christian to know God is good. The sun shines on evil and good. It rains on the just and the unjust. The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter what group you are in — you don’t deserve it. It’s God’s unmerited grace and mercy.
- God is good, He is our protector.
Psalm 34:7-9 — taste and see that the Lord is good. If you know that God is good, think about how many times He has reached out and helped you. Look at all the places He has rescued you
- God is good, He guides our paths in life.
Matthews 7:13-14. Laws forbidding us to do something can challenge our faith. People don’t always understand the conflicts of personal freedom. Jesus speaks of two gates, two different ways you can go. One is easy and wide, the other is narrow and difficult. There are a lot of people on the broad road, so you may assume this must be the right way to go since so many others are headed that way. But that way leads to destruction. On the other hand, the narrow road has few people, and it is often difficult, but it leads to eternal life. The narrow road is the one God puts us on when we become Christians, because He knows that road leads to eternal life. We will mature as we travel down the narrow road, and our relationship with God deepens.
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