The Goodness Of God

The Goodness of God

Romans 8:28

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Leamg-1uwvw

As I was thinking about the God’s overriding goodness, my mind went to the story of Jonah, and that’s because God’s goodness is the central theme of the story, not Jonah’s disobedience, nor the Ninevite’s repentance. In fact, it’s also not about the really big fish that swallowed him. Rather, it’s about God’s overall goodness, which really isn’t given a thought with all this other stuff going on.

It’s when we take our eyes off this central theme and on all the other stuff that’s going, that is when we’ll miss it, that is, God’s goodness.

You see, it was in God’s goodness that turned Jonah around to fulfill the calling God had placed upon His life, even in having a really big fish swallow him in order to get him where God wanted him to go. And it was in God’s goodness that he allowed the Ninevites to repent and not get wiped off the face of the earth.

And it is the same with our lives. In God’s goodness He doesn’t let us go our own way, but He will pursue us in order to get us going in the right direction. It is also in His goodness that He brings to our remembrance His truths in our darkest hours.

When everything was taken from me, I found myself in the dark belly of depression. And it was while I was there that God brought several scriptures to remembrance, putting them together for me to see more of God’s overall plan.

First was when Jesus was hanging on the cross and He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46) You see, that is exactly how I felt.

But with that God brought to my mind Isaiah 53:5, which is where God tells us why Jesus hung upon that cross when it says, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”

So, the Lord was saying that He wasn’t finished with me, although I saw only the darkness of my problems. But then He then gave me one more Scripture, Genesis 50:20, where Joseph told to his brothers that what they meant for evil, that is their betrayal in selling him into slavery, God meant it for good, to bring about the salvation of many.

Now, the Apostle Paul had this overarching and unwavering confidence that the goodness of God would override everything that occurs in life. And he proclaimed this belief in his letter to the Roman church, and remember, He was in prison at the time he wrote it.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NKKV)

Paul believed that God makes everything turn out for the best, which then renders complaining and unthinkable occurrence, since everything in life was either planned or permitted by God.

Now, I struggled with this wording “best,” or “good,” because it is not in accordance with what we would consider to be best or good, but rather it is what God knows is best or good given the situation or circumstances that we are facing.

Oswald Sanders said, “With God accidents are not accidental and adversity is not adverse.”

It is this unwavering belief that allowed Paul and Silas to sing praises even while in prison with the backs bleeding from the whip, and their feet in stocks. You see, as long as they knew and loved God, and were called according to His purpose, living out His calling for their lives, then even this terrible injustice would turn to good. And what we see is that both the jailer and his entire family were saved, and the church strengthened.

And so, the question becomes, “Can this joyous assurance that Paul experienced be our experience as well?”

To answer that question in the positive, two conditions from our verse must be met.

To Love God

“Those who love God”

Listen to what Jesus said was the greatest commandment.

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39 NKJV)

To Live in Partnership with God

“Those who are called according to His purpose.”

In His parable of a house that is built on a rock as compared to sand, Jesus said, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25 NKJV)