Is God Good? (Psalm 118:1)

What makes a cake or dessert good?  It is good because of the pleasure that it brings to the tongue.  What makes a musical piece good?  A musical piece is good because of its pleasantness to our ears and our hearts.  Is God good?  Of course he is, but what makes him good?

We could say that God is good because of his mighty power.  To some degree we would be right, but his goodness goes beyond that.  Many who gaze at the stars in the Heaven may state that God is good because of what he has created.  Again this may sound valid, but God's goodness goes much beyond that.  A god could be all powerful and the creator of a vast universe and at the same time not be good.  Imagine if Lucifer had been successful at ascending to the mount of God and seated himself upon the throne of Heaven as god, would he act with goodness.  We know that he would act completely differently.  From the scriptures, we learn how he will act towards mankind while he is personified in the person of the Antichrist.  He will be ruthless, unloving and evil.  He will be anything but good.  Power and ability do not make a person good.  So, why is God good?

God is good because of his mercy.  To create, you only need power, but to have mercy, you must have a heart and to have mercy that will endure forever, it must be an attribute of your being and not just the result of an arbitrary decision.  O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. (Psalms 118:1)

God will seem good to you when you recognize his abundant mercy towards you.  The more you recognize and identify his acts of mercy, the more you will see him as good.  Those who fail to see God as good, fail to recognize or see God's mercy.

Some have a hard time believing that God is good because he does not act in their lives like they desire or expect.  God not coming to the rescue for Illnesses, lost jobs, accidents, financial loss, and domestic struggles persuades people to believe that God is not good.  The fault is not with God, but man.  These people have taken their focus off of the great work of mercy that God has done in their lives and instead focused on what they want or expect God to do.  God is still good, but because of disappointment, they fail to see it.

Which person are you?  They way to determine it is to ask this simple question.  Is God good to you?

Holding Faith (1 Timothy 1:19)

Faith is not something that you have like a possession.  Once you get it, you must battle to keep it.  Each trial of life attacks your faith.  It tests your faith to its limit and then pushes it a bit further.  As circumstances of life appear to make life bleak and the promises of God untrue, you must grasp more firmly to your faith.  Your faith taps into the power of God.  Without faith you will be tossed about by the circumstances of life like a ship tossed about on the sea.  Without the ability to guide itself, a ship will be wrecked upon the shore.  Likewise, those who abandon their faith will become shipwrecked.

Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: (1 Timothy 1:19)

Faith is not doing something to show you believe: it is simply believing.  Actions do not prove your faith, but true faith will affect your actions.  In times of crisis, do not focus on your Christian actions, but instead focus your faith on God: looking to him for what he will do and what he may beckon you to do.  While in most trials, God will want you to do nothing because most of your actions will be to try and deliver yourself from your trial.  God wants to be the Savior.  There may be times when he will guide you and your actions to bring about his deliverence, but he will use most trials to bring about death to yourself. (Romans 8:13)

Sadly to say when life goes wrong, so many people become hurt and angry with God.  Because of a wrong conception of him, they expect him to remove all problems from life.  When things do not work out, they put away or push away their faith.  They do not lose their faith or their faith does not become weak, they refuse to exercise it and with a deliberate act push away what the Holy Spirit is leading them to do.  Their faith is able to do what God is leading them to do, but they refuse to and this action will dash their life upon the rocks.

As you face trials, cling to the Savior, hold on to your faith and fight to keep it.