“God is good! All the time. All the time, God is good.” This call and response was something I grew up hearing and responding to in church. It’s basically a reflex at this point—anytime I hear “God is good,” my immediate reaction is to shout “ALL THE TIME” …even when nine times out of ten it’s someone praising God with no expectation of a response (disclaimer: “nine times out of ten” is my go-to stat. No real research was done in the making of this post). I never questioned the fact that God was good, because it was something I was taught. Grass is green. 2+2=4. God is good. It was just another fact of life. But you know when you know something, but it takes a while for you to really know it? God’s goodness is one of those things for me. I never really questioned it, but I never really knew it, either. Oddly enough, it took several challenging circumstances to learn just how good God is. In all situations. Even when I’m not. Even when I don’t feel like it.
Okay, so you know when you were little and you told your younger sister “I love you, but I don’t like you” (only me? Sorry, bebegurl. I love and like you now!). Well, sometimes that’s how we treat God. God is the little sister who looks at you with nothing but adoration. Even when you mess up. Even when you tell her that it’s all her fault. Even when you don’t like her. But you know what? Like our little sisters, God does adore us in all seasons. He loves us fully and completely, because we are His. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-30). We are worth more than many sparrows, but we sometimes let our birdbrains get in the way of seeing that or loving Him in return.
Okay, so what if we don’t have a problem with loving God? We might be able to “love” God in all seasons, but shouldn’t we be praising Him in all seasons too? As I prepare for a nearly year-long journey of new experiences, I have to look back at what I’ve experienced this past year. Some truly amazing things happened—things that I will never forget. Things for which I will be forever thankful. Some really painful things also happened this year, however. I experienced death, loss, regret, and sadness. Some of these things came from an external source, but right alongside those were all of the hardships I made for myself. There were instances when I was not a good steward of my time, my body, my mind, my money, my heart…the list goes on. Despite all of this, God is good. God is good all of the time. God is good when I am not, and God is good even when I don’t feel like it. Absolutely, some of the things we face are awful. Some of the situations we find ourselves in and sometimes make happen, I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. BUT. God is good! All the time. And now that some of those experiences are over, I am able to look back and see how most of the good and bad things that happened this year were connected. So much of the good came from the bad—some of the good could only have happened through the bad. And so “God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering” (from Genesis 41:52).
God is good even when I’m not. And nine times out of ten (whoop, there it is), I’m not. I constantly do things to bring myself or the ones I love pain, and then I take it out on God. I withhold my praise because I don’t feel like it—because I don’t feel His goodness. We say we love God, but we let our circumstances get in the way of fully praising Him. We say we love God, but we let our budget get in the way of fully praising Him. We say we love God, but we let our pride get in the way of fully praising Him. We say we love God, but our actions show our refusal to praise. It’s easy to love God. It’s harder to praise.
God is so good; he pulls through for us when we don’t pull through for ourselves. He even does this now for me in my fundraising! I let the stress of school and the fear of (not) graduating get to me, and I procrastinated with some of my World Race responsibilities. I didn’t blog as much as I should have. I didn’t make anything to sell. I haven’t done any side jobs for anyone. Heck (I really don’t know if I should be admitting this), I haven’t even sent out my fundraising letters yet! While I was letting these things fall to the wayside to focus on school and finals, God was loving me through all of it, placing amazing people in my life to pick up for my slack. As I write this post, I only need $478 more to meet my first fundraising goal of $5000! GOD IS SO GOOD. But you know what? The goodness of God isn’t dictated by my happiness or success. God’s goodness doesn’t change according to how many things go right or wrong in our lives or in the world. God’s goodness remains constant, just as His love for us remains constant—no matter what we do or don’t do. This is something to praise God about. And (like my fundraising responsibilities) we shouldn’t hold off on our praise until the time is right. We shouldn’t hold off on our praise for when we have time to put aside our stress in order to focus on Him. He is always good, so the time is always. Not later.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). I know this next year will bring hardships. I know it will bring challenges. I know there will be times that I won’t pull through for myself, just as there will be times that you won’t pull through for yourself. But guess what? God will. He will remain constant in all of the challenges and He will love us the same through all of it, even if we refuse to see it or praise him. He will give us peace. He will be good. All the time. And THAT is something to praise God about.
