January 18, 2022
“Oh, how abundant is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You.”1
I used to have a cautious approach to God. One look at the news, and one can quickly wonder, How can a good God allow all this craziness, tragedy, and hurt? For years, I would have answered What do I believe about God? with a tilted head and a narrowed expression. “I believe He is unpredictable and slightly scary.”
I didn’t doubt God’s power. I didn’t doubt God’s authority. But I did very much doubt God’s goodness. However, when we go to the truth instead of our feelings for the answer to this question, we can understand God’s goodness in a whole new light.
His goodness has been apparent since creation. When He formed and shaped and painted and sculpted this world and its creatures into being, His goodness seeped in with every thought and touch. “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.”2
When Adam and Eve chose to sin, their sin infected and infiltrated the goodness of all God had made. So, while there are still good things in this world, the world is no longer a perfect reflection of God’s goodness. In Romans 8:21 Paul explains that the world is in “bondage to decay” or, as some versions say, in “slavery to corruption.”3 This decay and corruption are evidence of the brokenness of this world. …
The world is in a state of decay and corruption. We see it in deadly weather patterns, natural disasters, and famines that were not part of God’s good design. Cancer, sickness, and disease were not part of God’s good design. Car accidents, drownings, and murders were not part of God’s good design. The first sin did those things. When sin entered the world, it broke the goodness of God’s design. And sin absolutely breaks God’s heart. In no way did sin affect the goodness of God. He has a plan, a good plan to rid this world of every effect of sin.
Though we may get our hearts broken from the effects of sin in this in-between time, God’s goodness will eventually set the world right. In the meantime, we must hold fast to the truth of who God is and His unchanging nature: God is good. His plans are good. His requirements are good. His salvation is good. His grace is good. His forgiveness is good. His restoration is good. That is what I believe about God. God is good.—Lysa TerKeurst4
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Jesus declared, “No one is good—except God alone.”5 First John 1:5 tells us that “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.” To say that God is good means that God always acts in accordance with what is right, true, and good. Goodness is part of God’s nature, and He cannot contradict His nature. Holiness and righteousness are part of God’s nature; He cannot do anything that is unholy or unrighteous. God is the standard of all that is good.
The fact that God is good means that He has no evil in Him, His intentions and motivations are always good, He always does what is right, and the outcome of His plan is always good.6 There is nothing unpleasant, evil, or dark in Him. The Bible teaches that God’s goodness extends from His nature to everything that He does.7 “The LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”8
Everything that God made was originally good: “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.”9 God’s goodness is showcased in the Law He gave to Israel; the Law is holy, righteous, and good.10 “Every good and perfect gift is from above.”11 God can create only what is good, because He is fully good.
God did not create evil.12 Rather, evil is the absence of goodness; it is whatever God is not. Because of His goodness, God abhors sin and will judge it someday.13 It is never the will of our good God for us to sin: “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.”14
God’s goodness should lead to thankfulness on our part: “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.”15 … Ultimately, God’s goodness is seen in His plan to redeem us from sin. The gospel is “good news.” In His goodness, God sent His Son to become the perfect and blameless sacrifice so we could be forgiven of our sins. God does not want “anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance,”16 and it is “the goodness of God [that] leadeth thee to repentance.”17
There is only One who is fully and truly good—God. This good God invites us to seek Him and to “taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”18—From GotQuestions.org19
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God is good and fair in happy times and hard times. His goodness shows both in what He gives and what He withholds, what He allows and what He denies. With this attitude, you can’t help but experience increased joy, faith, peace, and gratitude.—Avi Rue
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I am your Good Shepherd, and you will not lack for anything that is within My will to give you. I will bring you to green pastures and restore your spirit every time it is weary and tired, and let you rest beside still and peaceful waters. I will lead you in the paths of My righteousness, with My truth and promises by your side—because you need to be strong and able in Me.
Even if you walk through dark valleys, or face the possibility of danger to your body or spirit, or endure deep and trying experiences, I will give you the power to not fear; I will grant you the ability to rise above those circumstances. I will be with you through everything—the hard times and the happy times. I will instruct and guide you and comfort you in times of trial.
My goodness and mercy and love and strength will follow you everywhere! You will dwell in My house forever—first My spiritual house on earth, and then forever with Me in heaven.—Jesus
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In reading what Scripture has to say about kindness and goodness, we find that both are described as attributes of God’s nature.
Moses said,“Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name, ‘The Lord.’”20
Good and upright is the Lord.21
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.22
God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ … so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.23
When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.24
Because God is kind and good, He has shown His kindness and goodness toward us through Jesus’ sacrificial death to atone for the guilt of our sin.—Peter Amsterdam
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I am sovereign, and I am good. These are essential truths about who I am. When you are struggling with the brokenness of this world, it can be a challenge to believe both truths simultaneously. Because I am Sovereign, I am ultimately in control of everything that happens—to you and to others. This knowledge is sometimes hard to swallow, especially in the face of atrocities or catastrophes. Amid such carnage, many people conclude that only a cruel God could be overseeing a world like this.
Let me assure you that I am absolutely Good. I am pure Light, and there is not an iota of darkness in Me. My absolute Goodness in the face of so much evil is totally beyond your understanding. When you are struggling with these mysteries, come to Me. Express yourself freely to Me, trusting that I care and understand. Then, subordinate your finite mind to My infinite intelligence and sovereign ways. Relinquish your demand to understand, and rest in My compassionate Presence. Cling to Me in childlike trust, believing that My way—though mysterious—is perfect.—Jesus25
Published on Anchor January 2022. Read by John Laurence. Music by John Listen.
1 Psalm 31:19.
2 Genesis 1:31.
3 NIV, The Voice
4 Lysa TerKeurst, Embraced (Thomas Nelson, 2018).
5 Luke 18:19.
6 See Genesis 50:20.
7 Psalm 119:68.
8 Psalm 100:5.
9 Genesis 1:31; 1 Timothy 4:4.
10 Romans 7:12.
11 James 1:17.
12 Habakkuk 1:13; 1 John 1:5.
13 Romans 2:5.
14 James 1:13.
15 Psalm 107:1; 1 Chronicles 16:34; Psalm 118:1; Psalm 136.
16 2 Peter 3:9.
17 Romans 2:4 KJV.
18 Psalm 34:8.
20 Exodus 33:18–19.
21 Psalm 25:8.
22 Psalm 86:5.
23 Ephesians 2:4–7.
24 Titus 3:4–5.
25 Sarah Young, Jesus Today (Thomas Nelson, 2012).
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