"God Is So Good!"

I hear it quite often. I see it posted on Face Book with regularity and consistency. I listen as people share testimonies, incorporating it into their discourse. I am sure they are sincere when they say it, and they really mean for it to be taken as a voice of praise and gratitude. And I am sure that more often than not, it is taken just the way they mean it.

What do they say? "Isn't God good?" That's simple enough, isn't it? And, it is so true. There is not an ounce of dishonesty in the statement. It is true to the very core. God is good! All the time!

But there is something conspicuously missing in these testimonies of praise. Very often we see or hear prayer requests for a loved one who is sick, or experiencing financial woes, or family issues, or upcoming surgery, etc. etc. When things work out the way we hope, then we hear the "Isn't God good?" testimonies. But, I have yet to see or hear that phrase used when the prayers aren't answered the way we asked. We are left pondering, perplexed, confused - wondering why, if God is good, did He allow this awful thing to happen!

Well, the fact of the matter is, God is good, all the time!

Our problem is that we often equate the goodness of God with the good things God does. Please reread that last sentence, slowly. Then, add to that the fact that our understanding of good may be a bit different than God's understanding.

Now, this blog is certainly not meant to be a theological think tank, where we deal with the philosophical and theological ramifications and implications of suffering, and how that fits into the "God is good" understanding. But what we do have to understand is the simply amazing truth that God is good, period! Nothing can change that. It is an eternal truth.

So, when I hear the testimony of praise, I want to respond by saying, "But, would God not have been just as good had He not healed your loved one, or brought your loved safely through surgery, or protected your loved one on the mission trip, or brought your wayward son/daughter home," etc. etc. Does God cease to be good when He fails to do "good" to us?

The next time you are faced with a challenging situation, let me encourage you to pray a prayer I read a few years ago by Norwegian theologian Ole Hallesby. I am paraphrasing, but the gist of the prayer is as follows:

"Lord, if it can bring You glory, then please heal Your servant instantly.
But Lord, if it could bring You even more glory, then allow Your servant to remain in his illness for a short period of time.
Still, Lord, if it could result in still greater glory, allow Your servant to bear the pain of this illness for months, or even years to come, as a testimony to Your grace in the midst of the struggle.
And, Lord, if it could possiby result in the greatest glory of all, then call Your servant home.
Not my will, but Your will, be done."

When I first read that, now many years ago, I sat in stunned silence as the weight of the words crushed my infantile faith. My purpose for living is to bring glory to God. Whether He allows what I perceive to be good or bad, it is to be used for His glory. Paul reminds us of the truth that the sufferings of this present life are not even worthy to be compared to the glory that is set before us in Christ Jesus!

So, let us live our lives to His glory. Let us face every obstacle to His glory. Let us face the news, good or bad, in a way that brings Him glory. And let us testify, regardless of the outcome, "God is good, all the time!"

Luke's Lost Teeth

Luke is my grandson. I am extremely proud of him, for reasons too numerous to recount in a brief blog. I wish I could be more involved in his life (as well as my other three grands: Gaige, Trinity, and Jayden), but long distance relationships are difficult to maintain.

Josh and Amanda, our son and daughter-in-law, Luke's parents, try their best to keep us in the loop. They call us with every new event in Luke's exciting, seven year old life. They call us to inform us of the really big events, as well as the less significant occurrences in Luke's day-to-day experiences. If something happens at school, we hear about it. If something happens at church, we hear about it. If something happens at home, well, you get the picture.

And we enjoy every call, especially those when Luke tells us in his own words about the latest event. Lately, we have been receiving phone calls about Luke losing his teeth. This is such an exciting time in a child's life! Those baby teeth begin to get loose, and finally come out, making way for those permanent teeth to take the place of those now gone.

Last summer, Luke spent about six weeks with us, and we really thought that he was going to get his first visit from the tooth fairy at our house! Well, it didn't happen. It was loose when he arrived, and it was still loose but hanging on when he left. However, it wasn't long after his departure from South Carolina and his arrival back in Texas that it finally happened: he lost his first tooth.

Since then, he has lost two other teeth. But, Luke isn't one to be satisfied with doing it the same way every time, so he does spices things up a little, just to make it interesting. His second tooth did not so much 'come out' as it was 'knocked out'! He was playing on the monkey bars at school, and while swinging like all good little monkeys should, he lost his monkey grip on the bar, and came crashing down - face first! Needless to say, a tooth that really wasn't quite ready to make its departure, made it anyway, thanks to a quick meeting of face and earth!

He lost his third tooth while enjoying a slice of pizza. He took a bite, and bit down hard, I mean REAL hard. His dad heard a loud crunch, a lot louder than taking a bite of pizza should make, and quickly told Luke to spit everything out! Well, there it was, tooth number three mixed in with all that tasty pizza.

We can't wait for the next lost tooth story to come around, because we just know that it will have a twist all its own.

In reality, though, losing things can be quite frustrating. I am sure we have all had the experience of losing something valuable, not necessarily because of its monetary worth, but because of its sentimental value. Or, some of us may have had experiences of huge losses - the loss of a home through storm or fire, the loss of possessions through buglary, the loss of loved ones through death. Loss can be extremely painful.

And there is one type of loss that is the most painful of all. Jesus asked the question, "What good is it if you have all the world offers, but lose your own soul?" (my paraphrase) You see, losing a tooth, well, that can be fun. Losing a home, that can be devastating. Losing a loved one, that can be earth-shattering. But losing your soul for eternity, separated from God and all His goodness - well, there are no words to describe the horror of that loss.

Luke lost three teeth, and he is going to lose plenty more before it is over. But there is one thing Luke will not lose: his soul. Yes, that's right, Luke, my grandson, is also Luke, my brother! Luke accepted Jesus Christ as His Savior, and because of that he will never have to worry about the worse loss of all.

How about you, friend? Have you secured your place in eternity by accepting God's offer of saving grace through the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of His Son? He did it for you. Why not make sure you will never suffer the worse loss of all.

Thanks, Luke, for giving Grandpa a chance to tell the story once again! This one is for you. I love you!