When Is God Good?

As a Christian, I regularly hear my fellow faithful claim, "God is good" when one of our own is blessed. I hear it when a disaster is averted. I hear it when someone is healed from a sickness or when there is reconciliation in a broken relationship. But is that the only time God is good? Christians are sometimes sucked into the blessings=God's goodness philosophy that has infiltrated the church from secular false teachers. The first that comes to mind is Joel Olstein. Olstein teaches if you trust in God, you will be blessed.

So if this is true, then is God not good when things don't turn out peachy? What about the child of a faithful follower who dies of a long, painful battle with leukemia? Was God good then? What about the believer who loses his job and consequently loses all of his possessions? Was God absent?

Our faith in a benevolent Father can not be based on the visible blessings we receive. It is true that ALL good things come from the Father but that includes refuge in times of trial. In the middle of any crisis God is there and He is still good.

How many times have I heard Christians say, "I know God will deliver me out of this problem"? The fact is God does deliver us, but not always in the way we want. His deliverance is first and foremost spiritual. He protects us from being given more than we can stand. He provides us a safe haven from this broken, perverted and dying world. Our God is truly great no matter what the physical result of our trial is.

When our Savior exclaimed, "My God, why have you forsaken me?", He was truly sharing what we all feel in a time of trial. Christ proved He understands our feelings. But the Father did NOT forsake his Son and He does not forsake us. Just as with Christ on the cross, God the Father is right there with us and He will deliver our hearts from any trial. Never think God has left you. Always remember, God is good ALL of the time...