God is good…
All the time.
And all the time…
God is good.
If you know, you know.
Sometimes when I look around at the current state of things, what I say and what I see do not seem to align.
I say God is good, but I see my body wrecked with pain.
I say God is good, but I see unforeseen expenses.
I say God is good, but I see ongoing sleep, behavioral, and emotional health issues with my children.
I say God is good, but I see my own battles with mental and emotional health.
And yet, I keep declaring that God is good.
Because God is good, and His goodness is not dependent on my circumstances.
His goodness supersedes anything I may be facing or any outcome I may be experiencing.
God is so good. Period.
That’s not up for debate.
Although, that doesn’t mean I cannot question the gap between what I say and what I see. Jesus welcomes that kind of wrestling with Him because it gives Him a divine opportunity to show us just how good He is, and has been.
Just recently I questioned God regarding His goodness during the now 6-week-long saga of my daughter’s night terrors which have been robbing our whole family of rest and affecting the moods and behavior of the entire family. Which is on top of a mountain of other things that occurred leading up to and during this saga.
There’s no way you’d let us struggle like this. You know everything we’ve been facing. You know how fickle my health is. You know I’m alone with the kids many days while my husband works. You know how fatigue affects me. You know my child is being tormented.
And then He reminded me of all the instances we’ve seen His love and care throughout this saga-
People who’ve dropped everything to pray for and with us. People who have blessed us with meals so we wouldn’t have to worry about another thing. People who’ve checked on us seemingly out of the blue at just the right time when everything or everyone seemed to be falling apart. A child who for just one day in 6 weeks slept through the night on the day I felt like I would not be able to continue living like this anymore. Friends who were there for us to vent to and who also encouraged us with the truth of God’s word. Grandparents who kept a grandchild for a week so that there was a little less responsibility to manage.
Those things were not happenstance. They were not a coincidence. They were God inspired. He used people to be beacons of His love and care in our lives. We experienced goodness… God’s goodness through those He has placed in our lives.
And as I sat feasting on that realization, I came to realize even more-
My daughter memorized Psalm 4:8, In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, will keep me safe. (NLT) We started having family worship sessions before bed. My kids became engaged in prayer and recite prayers on their own at night. I started writing prayers for my children weekly. I got back on track with the Bible reading plan I had slacked off on. I started working on a new project the Lord placed on my heart. The blog content that has come out of this time has been more fruitful for the people who’ve read it than I ever thought it would. And if I am being completely honest, I have seen the depths to which God is willing to stoop to meet me at my lowest and my worst during this time (because my response to this season has not been IG-worthy).
My family and I have come to know God more deeply. We’ve become more fortified in prayer and the Word. We’ve become more rooted in truth and faith. And we are finding a way to function even when things are quite dysfunctional. We are finding a path to joy even when tragedy strikes. We are finding a means of rest even when exhaustion is present. We are finding that sweet spot where God has prepared a table for us, even in the presence of our enemies.
So I say, God is good.
And though what I see is not, I still know for sure-
God is good…
All the time.
And all the time…
God is good.
This was so beautiful and encouraging. All the time He is good!!