Worship Leader Devotional, “Going Deeper;” God is Good
Worship Leader Devotional Going Deeper God is Good
In today’s Worship Leader Devotional Going Deeper God is Good, I want to talk about the goodness of God. Do you believe that God is good? We often say that He is good, we lead worship songs that declare His goodness, but do we really believe that He is good?
It’s easy to think that He is good when things are going our way. We can easily declare His goodness when we have what we need, even more so when we get what we want. Do we believe the same when things are hard? Do we believe He is good when we get a bad diagnosis? Do we believe that He is good when things don’t go our way? Is He still good when we get notice that we’re losing our job? or when we lose a loved one? or when some other tragedy strikes?
The Bible tells us repeatedly that God is good but have you ever noticed that the verses that say, “He is good” tend to start with, “Give thanks to the Lord” and end with, “His love endures forever?” (1 Chronicles 16:34; 2 Chronicles 5:13, 7:3; Ezra 3:11, Psalm 106:1; 107:1; 118:1; 118:29; 136:1). These verses don’t sound like suggestions. They sound like commands that we are to give thanks because He is good. Period. Not only is He good, but His love also endures forever. Period.
I’ll be the first to admit that my perspective of God is not always accurate. I am human after all, and I am clouded by my own limited capacity to fully understand. I have walked through some situations where God’s goodness looked anything but good, and there have even been times when it felt like He must be out to get me. Yet, even when things are difficult, His goodness is still present. Even when we don’t see or feel it in the middle of our circumstances, He is still good.
I remember sitting with a friend on a very difficult day in the summer of 2009. I was one year into the most painful journey I have ever walked. I spent several minutes rehashing some extremely painful details; details that seemed far from the fact that God is good.
When I finished, my friend lovingly pointed out to me that even though those details seemed so wrong and so unnecessarily painful, seeing where I had landed as a result of them undeniably screamed God’s goodness. Looking back over the year, I could see God’s hand working good in my life in spite of my circumstances, my choices and the choices of those around me. He is good.
I can’t explain it, but somehow, in ways only God can pull off, His nature is that of “good” and He cannot go against His nature. He is God. We are not. As only He can, He finds ways to make all things: not just some, not just the things we like, but *all* things – even the horrible, the difficult, the painful…He makes *all* things work together for good. (Romans 8:28)
“Give thanks to the Lord.” Why? Because “He is GOOD.” And because “His love endures forever.” You know what? Not only is He good, but I’d bank on the fact that He is also in a good mood.
