You are good and you do good. Psalm 119:68 (Net)
In every situation, God chooses good. Do we always see the goodness? Do we understand the forces at work? Do we grasp, even, what "good" means? I know I don’t. But thirty-four years of walking with him has convinced me of his goodness.
When I falter in my conviction, I look again at the cross. Only a good God would do what God has done in Jesus: showing us the center of his heart. Not telling us about himself, but leaving us with scenes of his intimate behavior. We can imagine the scene with Zacheus, where Jesus broke the social barriers to eat with him. We know his protection and exhortation with the woman caught in adultery. We see his bold response to the hypocrisy of the self-righteous.
When we groan in our suffering, when we weep in our grief, when we gnash our teeth at the injustice we’ve experienced, we can rest in his goodness. Nothing easy about that, but God’s goodness is his essential character. Perhaps, if we are really honest with ourselves, we question his goodness today. And yet, days are coming when we will see the whole plan and worship.
Jesus, we long for your kingdom come.