God Is Good… All The Time! Reconnecting With The Father’s Unfailing Love

By Sebastien Richard, Author and Bible teacher,

Thriving on Purpose Ministries: https://www.thrivingonpurpose.com/

In his epistle to the Romans, Paul admonishes us:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” ~ Romans 12:2 (NIV)

As believers, we are not to be conformed to what Paul calls the pattern of this world. We are not to think like the world thinks, see like the world sees, understand like the world understands, live like the world lives, and most of all, believe what the world believes.

The world, or unbelievers, believe through their senses—what they can see, touch, hear, or smell, etc.

As believers, we are called to a renewing of our minds which leads us into transformation.

In the gospel, there is an instance when Jesus gets somewhat impatient with our conformity with the world. This interesting narrative is found in Matthew 17:14-18 (NIV):

“When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. ‘Lord, have mercy on my son,’ he said. ‘He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.’ ‘You unbelieving and perverse generation,’ Jesus replied, ‘how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.’ Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.”

Jesus said, “You unbelieving and perverse generation.” These words sound harsh, but what did He mean exactly?

Well, if we read the end of the story, we realize that Jesus equated ‘perverse thinking’ with unbelief.

When His disciples asked why they couldn’t cast out the demon, He answered them:

“Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” ~ Matthew 17:20 (NIV)

Perverse Thinking

Merriam-Webster defines perverse this way:

a: Turned away from what is right or good: Corrupt

b: Improper, Incorrect

Also: obstinate in opposing what is right, reasonable, or accepted: Wrongheaded

So, perverse in the context means wrongheaded, which is to say: having or showing bad judgment; misguided.

It is clear that the disciples could not cast out the demon because they had too little faith and wrong thinking. The two are inextricably linked.

When we fail to move mountains in our own lives, it is not because God has failed us; it is because we have failed God…through our own lack of faith. We cannot have what heaven has unless we think like heaven thinks.

We need to repent from our perverse thinking and replace it with right thinking. Only right thinking can bring right believing. And only right believing can make us say to mountains: move out of the way.

Acts of God

The first and most important corrective measure believers need to bring to their understanding in order to have mustard seed faith is that God is good… all the time.

We say it—all the time, but do we believe it?

Consider this…

In our insurance policies, we have what is termed to be “Acts of God.” These are natural disasters like earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, and hurricanes, which can take the lives and possessions of many people. That is in our everyday business vernacular. So, we basically equate the massive loss of life and destruction with God’s will.

And then we kid ourselves in trying to reconcile such things with our supposed belief that God is good.

So, according to this train of thought, God brings death and destruction, but we say He is good? Um, really?

Now, don’t get me wrong… I am not in actuality agreeing with insurance companies that God causes these natural catastrophes. No. What I am saying is that we ascribe these destructive natural events to Him alone. And yet, in the Bible, these were caused by God in certain unique instances only. The flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the plagues of Egypt, and the tribulation in Revelation are unique instances where God brings judgement on people who oppose Him on a grand scale. But can we say that every storm, tornado, and earthquake are sent by Him? Of course not. In the Book of Job, Satan himself was able to control weather patterns to bring about destruction (Job 1:16-19).

I believe that when God created wind currents, weather patterns, and seasons, He gave them something similar to human free will to go to and fro and accomplish their purpose on the earth—within certain limitations (Job chapter 38). Nature was meant to be, to a large extent, self-regulating. I also believe that at certain times, God may take hold of these wind currents and weather patterns to bring them the way He wants and to fulfill His purposes. He can also assign this task to mighty angels. But I believe this is the exception and not the rule.