The Bible tells us over and over that God is indeed good. “God is
love.” “For God so loved the world…” “Love one another, as I have loved you.”
“The Lord is kind and merciful.”
When we consider all the blessings and joys we experience in life,
it is undeniable that God is good. But what if God was not so good? There is
nothing in the rule book that says God has to be compassionate, forgiving, and
merciful. What if He had the godlike attributes of the divine Creator—all-powerful
and all-knowing—but had a really bad attitude? That would not be so enjoyable,
would it?
What if God intentionally put obstacles in front of us during our
journey through life, and then when we stumbled and experienced pain, He burst
out laughing at us, like a nasty schoolyard bully? Boy, that would be
miserable, wouldn’t it? That would mean God is similar to those characters in
Greek mythology who were thought to have supernatural powers, but had really
flawed personalities. Some of those Greek gods got drunk; some of them lied and
cheated; and some tormented human beings here on earth, just for sport. That
would be horrible if the real God was a self-centered creep like that.
Thankfully, the truth is, God is all-loving and He created us out
of His abundant love. He wants us to be in a loving relationship with Him. He
wants us to experience all the joys of life.
Unfortunately, there are many people nowadays who think God is not
good. And the reason they think this is somewhat understandable: we often experience
pain and heartache in this world. It is reasonable to wonder if God is so good,
then why did He let me lose my job? Why did He let my son get addicted to
drugs? Why did my spouse divorce me? Why did my best friend get cancer? Why
does my back hurt so much that I can’t sleep at night? Why do I feel so sad
sometimes I just want to crawl into a hole and die?
These heartfelt and painful questions are endless. Many, many
people are suffering so much. If God is so good, why doesn’t He take away all
our pain? It’s that age-old question that countless theologians have asked
through the centuries: Why do bad things happen to good people, and why doesn’t
God stop it from happening?
Well, the fact of the matter is, we live in a fallen world. Sin
has corrupted our world so much that there is no shortage of pain and
suffering. God allows it to happen—for a time—but He doesn’t cause it to
happen.
An important thing to understand is that whenever something
painful happens to us, God does not laugh like a schoolyard bully. Instead, He
weeps with empathy and compassion for us. That is a big difference. He truly
does love us, and He is good.
It’s also important to remember that this world is not our home,
and we are only here temporarily. If this world and this life were all that
existed, then our pain and suffering would be very tragic, and you could make
the case that God is not very good.
However, our entire time on earth is just a brief dress rehearsal before
the real show, which is eternal life and joy in God’s heavenly kingdom. In Heaven,
there is no suffering, no pain, and no heartache. Here on earth, we are supposed
to learn who God is and get a glimpse of what it means to be in loving
relationships. When we get to Heaven, we finally will love perfectly and bask
in God’s joy perfectly.
While we are here, though, it’s a struggle, interspersed with fleeting
moments of joy and happiness. But don’t ever for a minute think that God is not
good. He loves us so much.
God is good…all the time. And all the time…God is good.
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