God's goodness

Is God good?

This is a dumb question right? Right? I feel like people are afraid to actually ask this. I feel like Christians are afraid to ask this. Why?

Are you afraid of the answer?

I’ve spent a lot of time looking at my life from the outside since I’ve started school, specifically family, and it seems as though God is either good and not in control or in control and not good. Why would God let this happen?

Jesus dies. By faith I get His goodness and He gets my badness. I get His goodness?

Is God good?

Am I going to be renewed to life, beauty, holiness, and perfection by His goodness?

Throughout life these are the questions that as Christians we will have to wrestle with. Before we wrestle. We must answer. Is God good?

We always say “yes, You are good” but then God kills Jesus.

Now we wrestle. What the heck are you doing? Are you in control?

Then we find something that makes a ton of sense (nope).

You have intentionally crushed my hope FOR my hope.

Looking back on my life when I look at all of the times I was trying to be happy, I have some regrets. Looking back at all the times that I had hard times and pain in my life, I have no regrets. (When I’m going through them I would highly disagree with this statement).

Jesus the therapist answers my questions and meets my needs as I define them. Jesus the redeemer defines my needs and meets them beyond all expectation.

God doesn’t give me what I want because if He gave them to me I wouldn’t need Him. Realizing this, I love my life and family. I don’t ever have to look at people who need some extra love shown to them and for a reason to cling to God.

If God is the only fulfillment in the universe, and He puts me in this conundrum to need to be asking Him questions and meeting with Him, does that not make Him unbelievably good? If hardship leads to joy, is it worth it?

Jesus does die. Pain does come. Trial will leave you questioning God.

Jesus does raise again victoriously. Pain is healed by the Gospel. Victory through
cross gives way to joy in the midst of the brevity of life. Because I have enough in Jesus, regardless of everything else.

“If you lack contentment, start naming all the things you don't deserve.”-Darrin Patrick