just good.

I saw a comment on a Facebook status the other day where someone said, "God is so good for doing that!" Now, I'm not saying she was wrong for saying that, and I'm certainly not judging her intentions or her heart behind that statement. I truly believe she meant that God is good. But when I read it, it caused me to stop and say, "Wait a minute..."

You see, God isn't good because he does good things for us.

He isn't good because he works things out for our good.

He isn't good because he takes care of us.

He's just good.

Sure, all those things are amazing, and we definitely wouldn't survive without God intervening in our lives and doing good for us, but let us not become numb to the fact that God IS good regardless of what he does for us. If God never blessed me one more time, he would still be good. If God never helped me one more time, he would still be good. 

I'm reminded of the story in Daniel 3 of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (specifically the VeggieTales version...hehe!). They're about to be thrown into the fire, and they say, "Go ahead and throw us in. Our God will save us. But even if he doesn't..." Wow. What a challenge to our faith. Even if God didn't save them from the fire, they were still willing to risk death because they believed that God was good.

You know, it's really easy to love God and worship God when things are going smoothly for us and we're getting our way. The real challenge comes when we hit some bumps in the road. It's not as easy to lift our hands in worship when we're jumping hurdles. But guess what...regardless of those hurdles, God is still good. He doesn't have to do anything for us to merit that title. He already did.

He created you.

He sacrificed his Son for you.

He loves you in spite of you.

He is just good.

Don't allow the trials in your life cloud your vision of God's goodness.

You might not always get your way, but God is always good.

P.S. Here's a song by Shane and Shane called "Burn Us Up." So good. Enjoy. :)

lindsay