This week, I realized something.
It isn't particularly profound, it isn't something you haven't heard before, and it isn't going to knock you off your feet.
That's what it isn't.
What it is, however, is the most mindblowing, life-changing thing I have ever been given Grace to understand.
God is good.
That's all.
God is good.
God really is good.
That's what I realize. That's what I know. That's what I understand. That's what I feel. That's what I am certain of deep within my soul.
Friends, those are not just words. I have said "God is good" quite literally thousands of times in my life. I might as well have been saying "guthdi buyon readkjf." I didn't get it.
One of my Spanish friends' responses to my unpredictable, often irrational, and multi-occasional bad moods is to look me in the face and say, "Meredet, Dios es bueno!" He says it frequently, always smiling, as though these three words and his puppy-like demeanor will magically resolve my disposition. What he doesn't know is that for the last three weeks I've wanted to pop him right on the mouth every time he's said it. I trust that I'm not the only one who does not want a smiley Spaniard in my face telling me how great God is when I'm working through a bad mood. When you're in a bad mood or having a bad day, happy people are just the worst kind of people. But I digress.
Really, Guille's response to anything bad that you tell him about is just that. God is good. At first I thought him to be quite simplistic, and my theologically-based mind went immediately to all the reasons why you can't merely respond with a three-word mantra of God's goodness when someone tells you they're hurting. "'God is good' does nothing for the bereaved parent, the insecure teenager, the jobless single mother, the widow, the orphan," I would think to myself. I would think of all the ways he ought to respond, like offering them logistical help, trying to get to the root of the problem with them, helping them find a job, taking the hurting soul to counseling, taking them to church, praying with them, etc.
And all of those things are good. They are not incorrect responses to problems that people have. They are necessary responses to problems that people have.
But God is Good.
Those things are good, but God is Good.
Now I see that Guillermo is not only not wrong, but also most profoundly right. God's goodness is absolutely the answer to the problems I mentioned above, to every problem seemingly smaller and every problem seemingly larger.
Because when you realize that God is Good – not with your head, but with the innermost part of your heart –
when you realize that God is Good,
when you realize that He smiles more than He weeps
when you realize that His laugh is louder than His reprimand
when you realize that nothing could separate you from God's perfect Love
when you realize that God's arms are outstretched more than His hand is ready to strike
when you realize that God actually can and does use everything that happens to you for Good
when you realize that He has been calling you beloved, beautiful, innocent, and pure since He created the universe
when you realize that He has been proud of you every time you've succeeded and every time you've failed
when you realize that God wants to melt every ounce of bitterness in your heart and replace it with joy
when you realize that God actually has quite a poor memory when it comes to your mistakes
when you realize that God is the one responsible for every good thing you have
when you realize that He has been your number one fan for all eternity
when you realize that God thinks you're worth dying for
when you realize that God is for you, not against you
when you realize that God is Good,
everything changes.
God's goodness is the absolute answer to every problem the world has ever known. Without a good God, there is no solution to any of the problems.
Yes, we have to do more than merely respond to the world's problems with three words, but getting people to realize that God is actually Good is the most important thing you could ever do for them. Problems become light, burdens are lessened, and frowns turn upside down when God's goodness infiltrates the heart. God's goodness is the reason that we turn to my logistical suggestions, but first we must understand that the motivator and the goal is to tell the world that God does indeed love them like crazy. That's why we do any of those things – because God is Good and God is Love and God has first loved us. His goodness wipes out any possibilty of fear or law or rejection or proving ourselves worthy. His goodness has made us whole.
The real knowledge of God's goodness is the difference in a life of compulsive moral legalism and a life of joyful obedience as you take God's outstretched hand and begin to walk freely in Him, knowing that anything and everything He says is – you guessed it – Good.
And goodness gracious, when you realize that, how can you not act like Guillermo? How can you not continuously smile and let the goodness you know in your heart escape from your lips?
I have never been so convinced of anything else in my life.
God is Good.
Make it your song to sing and your dance to dance, because it's never not going to be true.
God is Good.
Tell everyone you meet.
God is Good.
God is really Good.
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