“And we know that in all things God works for the GOOD of those who love
him, who have been called according his purpose” – Romans 8:28
When the Red Sox beat the Yankees- to me that is a good thing. I would also consider well-made and executed sushi a good thing. Coffee with the just a little bit of soy milk or french vanilla creamer- a good thing. Polka dot picture frames- good! Cake? Good. Fruit? Good. Now these are all fairly superficial things I realize. But, I have been thinking about that word for awhile: good. What does good really mean? I mean some people would say that when the Red Sox beat the Yankees its a horrible thing (obviously those people need to find Jesus….). Others would say sushi is disgusting and makes them sick. And believe it or not some people don’t even like coffee! But to me, all these are “good” things. Different perspectives lead to different definitions of good.
When I looked up the definition for “good” these are some of the words that stood out: better, best, righteous, honorable, genuine, real, valid, beneficial, dependable, favorable….the list goes on and on. There are seriously hundreds of words to describe what “good” means. It can be used as a noun, adverb, adjective, or an interjection. Basically, the word “good” has many levels to it. So, what does it mean when God says He is working for our good? I think often in our minds it means that God will provide for us, He will make us healthy, He will make things “perfect,” everything happy, everything favorable, He will make sure the Red Sox win the World Series. And sometimes that is what He does.
But more and more I am realizing God’s definition of good is usually not
my definition of good. Why do we persist on thinking of God’s good as
comfortable, safe, secure, and easy? That is not the life we see all
throughout the Bible. Abraham? Moses? David? John the Baptist? the
Disciples? JESUS? Paul? Peter? Did any of these people live
comfortable, easy, “safe” lives? Why do we expect that we will? Their
lives were filled with risk, courage, sacrifice, suffering, uncertainty,
rejection by society, etc. Why do we continually think that God’s good
in our lives means comfort, security, safety, issue free, no problems,
easy, fun, enjoyable? I mean those aren’t bad things, but they are not
the only way to define good. We see God’s good as answering all of our
prayers the way we want, when we want. Living in financial security.
Having everything we “need” at our finger tips. Never feeling the pain
of death and loss. But, if that were truly God’s good then that means
God is with holding his goodness from billions of people around the
world. And that just doesn’t make sense to me.
How can we understand God’s goodness when we use
the same word to describe food that we enjoy or a song that we like?
Obviously, I am not suggesting we change the English language (I mean, I
guess we could try), but maybe we need to re-adjust our perspective on
what good is, how we are defining good in our lives. God’s goodness is
not the same as ours. What God sees as good things often we view as
hard, suffering, filled with pain, frustrating, lonely- He sees anything
that can bring us deeper in intimacy with Him as a good thing. I am
beginning to realize that God can use every situation for good, but for
His definition of good, not mine. And I have to be okay with that.
But, I still think its a good thing when the Red Sox beat the
Yankees.
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver, “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you?
Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.
He’s the King, I tell you.”
– The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
