God Is Good All the Time

“Would you know who is the greatest saint in the world?” asked William Law. “It is not he who prays most or fasts most...but it is he who is always thankful to God, who wills everything that God wills, who receives everything as an instance of God’s goodness, and has a heart always ready to praise God for it.”

How can we possibly receive “everything as an instance of God’s goodness”?

We can if we believe that God’s desire to do good to us is constant. He doesn’t choose good for us some times and bad other times. Even when things are going “bad,” He has not stopped doing good. It means He is rearranging things to do us more good if we continue to trust Him.

Joseph had been abused by his brothers, separated from his devoted father, falsely accused of immorality, and finally imprisoned. Then we hear him say, “...but God intended it for good.” Those words could be said over every thing in our lives.

God will not permit anything to happen to us that is utterly incapable of doing us good. If it were possible to conceive anything out of which infinite wisdom could not bring good, God would not allow it. He has no hidden motive or agenda so that it only appears He is doing us good.

“Surely goodness...will follow me all the days of my

life” (Psalm 23:6). The Hebrew word for “follow” means to “run after” or to “chase.” God is pursuing us with goodness and mercy! No wonder the psalmist seemed to take delight in meditating on the goodness of God. “The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord” (33:5 KJV). “The Lord will indeed give what is good” (85:12).

I thank You, Father, that through Your sovereignty and because of Your goodness You will bring good out of all that You allow.

“I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord” (Psalm 27:13 KJV).