A Good, Good Father

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. As much as we love this verse and as much as we love the promise of God’s goodness, reality is that we don’t really tend to appreciate it quite as much when we’re in the middle of a trial. More often than not, when we’re struggling the first question we raise to this scripture is, “How can anyone tell me that this is good?” This article will definitely be a harder one to soak in. It’s not an easy truth to accept, but I promise you, the lesson taught will help you to grow much closer to Christ. It will help you to truly understand just how important it is to trust Him.

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What Does “Good” Mean? Think of someone you know who has died because of something like cancer. Maybe you know someone who was suddenly killed in a tragic accident. Maybe you or someone you know has unexpectedly lost someone very dear to you. How can these things ever be a part of anything good? In the prior article “Why?” we established the truth that sin has an inevitable impact on this earth, and that impact is pain and suffering outside of God’s plan. We also learned that God cannot end all sin and pain without destroying our very own existence, especially considering we are a part of the sin problem and we also cause pain to ourselves and other. From that, we realized that we cannot blame a good God for what Satan does. Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. We have to accept the scripture above as a significant truth if we are ever going to begin to understand just how good God is. As I’ve written before and stated many times, Satan aims to do nothing more than destroy you. His ultimate pleasure comes from watching our demise. Thankfully though, we worship a God who is not limited by anything, especially not Satan. It doesn’t matter how bad anything gets, there is nothing God cannot handle. There is nothing that is so bad that God cannot convert it to something good. Allow me to use a personal example. In the first article of this blog, I briefly described my story to you all. Specifically, my twin brother’s physical debilitation has been extremely difficult to deal with. I’ve had people question me before about how I can ever find goodness in a situation in which a perfectly healthy young man became completely helpless. He was such a good person. He was genuine, thoughtful, selfless, and driven. His joy came from seeing the goodness of God radiating through other people’s lives. So why him? Of all people to have to deal with that, how could it possibly be of anything good that Victor is that person? What goodness has ever come from this situation? I couldn’t even begin to name them all, but let me try a few. Thousands of people have come to the loving and saving knowledge of Jesus Christ because of the inspiration they’ve found in Victor’s resilience, fortitude, and faith. They’ve seen that our story is not a cliche, so therefore, religion has not been the result. Instead, they’ve seen faith that is real. Many of #TeamVictor’s greatest supporters have become our closest friends. (One person in particular whom I love more than anyone else in this world happens to be one of those people.) Above all, just like the abuse Victor and I suffered and just like every other circumstance we’ve endured, everything I’ve ever dealt with has made me the man I am today. I am not perfect, but I can tell you this. It’s the worst things in life that reveal the best things about God. I would’ve never known about just how good God is had I not seen just how bad life can get. I would’ve never seen His healing hand had my family not experienced extreme illness. I would not know joy had it not been for despair. I would not know love and security had it not be for hate and emptiness. The God I know today is so much greater than I ever could have known Him to be had I not gone through my trials. My trials, your trials, they do not limit our God. Instead, they offer an opportunity for Him to show just how powerful He is. His Goodness is shown through the ways he brings greatness out of the worst situations, even though sometimes we don’t always feel as though the results have been “good.”

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A Different Perspective… Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. One more thought. A sweet lady stood up in front of the packed congregation at my church on Father’s Day morning with a quick message that brought so much comfort to everyone who had lost their fathers. She had lost her father a few years earlier to an illness I can’t quite remember. She said, “This morning I was praying to God, wondering what my daddy would say to me if he could see me today. What would he tell me? What would he say about heaven? What about the pain I’m feeling? So I thought. He’d just say one thing, ‘Baby girl, it’s so much better here than I ever imagined!’” When people pray for Victor’s healing, or the healing of anyone for that matter, we always ask expecting that the healing we’re asking for will be shown or manifested on Earth. The hard thing for us to do is conceptualize the reality of Heaven. Think honestly. If you had to pick between someone being healed on this earth still having to deal with the countless troubles of this life and that person experiencing the glories of Heaven and an eternity next to the Father, which would you pick? Which is better? Is it our limited concept of perfect healing on this earth or Heaven where we can forever live with God? (Think of that - living with God forever!) I think the answer is obvious. The best experiences will never truly happen until we reach Heaven. I recognize that isn’t always comforting in the moment. It doesn’t erase our physical loss. However, it can help us to refocus ourselves. Though our earthly loss is temporary, God’s plan to bring goodness out of Satan’s evil is eternal. We just have to be willing to accept His will and trust His heart. We’re never going to live a painless life, and unfortunately we don’t always see our concept of “good” play out on this earth. However, if we focus our eyes on God, he will never fail to reveal goodness to us and to help us in the meantime until we reach Him. We don’t have the luxury of authority of determining what “good” really is. Not only is God Sovereign and above all, He also knows far more than we do about what is best. So no matter how hard it is, we have to trust Him. Trust me, I get how hard that is. The last thing I was thinking when I found out about Victor’s tumor was that God was going to do something good with the bad news we had received. All I could think of was how unfair it was. Well, yeah. It’s not fair. Life is not fair, and that’s not because God isn’t fair, it’s because Satan doesn’t fight fair.

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Goodness Everlasting…

The point is that no matter how things feel, God knows what He is doing. I know, that doesn’t feel good when your heart is still breaking. It doesn’t replace your loss. But I promise you that accepting that truth will help you get rid of the need you feel to understand everything.

Once you accept that, you can get off of the treadmill I described in my last article and actually begin to hit the pavement. You can actually begin to learn and understand how to move through your trial as God guides you.

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God is never going to fail you. He has never lost a battle. His streak is undefeated and that streak is NOT going to end with you. We don’t worship the “Great I Was,” we worship the Great I AM! I am the true vine… I am the good Shepard who takes care of his sheep… I am the Son of God… I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life… I am that Great I Am… I am the same yesterday, today and forever! Trust Him. Be willing to let go and let God. It’s okay not to understand. It’s not always going to be fun, and it surely won’t be fair. You don’t have to hold on to the pain. Fall in His arms. Let your tears fall into His hands and watch Him take those tears and use them to water the new beginnings of your life. We will further explore faith, its importance and definition, and why faith in God is the greatest decision we will ever make. Meanwhile, pray to God about trusting His plan and Will. Ask Him to offer you comfort and to help you understand that His plans are always for our good. Ask Him to humble you and to tame your anger. He will guide, comfort, and keep you. He is a Good, Good Father.

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Check out the song below! I hope it brings you comfort and hope. Our God is truly a good, good Father.