At some point in our lives, accompanied by some level of discomfort, we are tempted to question God’s goodness. It’s a job loss. It’s a broken relationship. It’s a child’s rebellion. It’s a health scare. It’s a stock market fluctuation. It’s a ______.
Living in a world riddled with sin and its effects often puts us in the awkward position of asking, “Is God really good…is He…really?” It is in those perplexing moments that we’re tempted to act from the flesh by doing or thinking at least several things:
- Take control.
- Play the victim.
- Act as if nothing is wrong.
In taking control, we set ourselves above God. In playing the victim, we put ourselves out of God’s reach. In acting as if nothing is wrong, we treat God as if He doesn’t exist. Consequently, life gets more difficult, not more comfortable.
One pastor aptly pointed out that when Satan tempted Adam and Eve, he did not tempt them to question God’s strength or His rule, but instead, he tempted them to question God’s goodness.
“And he [Satan] said to the woman, Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every tree of the garden?” Genesis 3:1b (AMPC)
The pastor added that Satan’s tone in the Genesis 3 question (which the Amplified Bible captures well) was a snarky mock toward God. It was an opportunity for Adam and Eve to rest in God’s provision and to trust His goodness in keeping this particular tree from them, but it was just that goodness that the enemy leveraged.
As the story unfolds, we know they consumed the forbidden fruit, impacting all mankind because they couldn’t understand God’s will in God’s way. They succumbed to the temptation of the evil one giving into their desires and ultimately doubting God’s goodness. Thus, their decision laid the path for us since that fateful day.
We are no different than our forebears in that when we can’t understand why certain things unfold the way they do, we are tempted to question God’s goodness.
It goes something like this…
“Did God really intend for me to trust His goodness even if it meant losing my job for standing on His Word?”
“Did God really intend for me to trust His goodness as my spouse writhes in pain from an incurable disease?”
“Did God really intend for me to trust His goodness as I lose my retirement money from being scammed into an investment by a professing believer in Christ?”
As hard as it may be, Christians remember, as they face life’s challenges, that…
- Our world was not intended to be as it is…
- Sin and the subsequent curse brought chaos and all matter of disorder…
- Jesus entered the disordered chaos and brought ordered peace…
- Therefore, Jesus is God’s goodness extended to all mankind.
This doesn’t mean Christians will not face circumstances that force them to question God’s goodness. However, it does mean we have access to the source of Goodness, Jesus Christ, through faith.
Thus, the Christian turns to Christ and remembers amid struggle… “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
“O taste and see that the Lord is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”
Psalm 34:8
— June 29, 2023