Last time I posted, I wrote about my trip to Africa and the
death of my brother, Cory. Saying that I was blown away by everyone’s support
and encouragement for that post would be a huge understatement, so I just want
to take a moment to thank each and every one of you who read, shared and
commented on my blog. Thank you for your encouraging words, endless support,
and loving spirits. I am blessed beyond compare!
Because that post did blow up in the way that it did, I’ve
felt nervous about posting again. I considered ending my blog, because how was
I supposed to follow that one up? But, God had other plans, so here I am yet
again. Welcome back to Unmistakable Christianity!
Something has been bothering me lately, and I’ve been very
hesitant to write about it. It’s a widely held belief and a touchy subject.
But, here goes nothing.
Lately, as I’ve been procrastinating studying and spending
time scrolling through my Facebook feed, I’ve seen numerous posts that are
remarkably similar to each other. It’s a link to a video, blog post, or article
with the caption “What an AMAZING God we serve,” “God is good, all the time” or
something along those lines. Naturally a post like this would catch my
attention, so I click on the link to find out what remarkable thing the Lord
has done.
One particular story that stood out to me was told by a husband
and a wife. They were telling the story of how they had struggled to get
pregnant, yet were finally able to conceive their first child! They were overjoyed,
yet during the pregnancy, problems started occurring. I won’t go into the
details or the medical language that they presented, but the doctors made it
very clear that this couple was NOT to expect their precious child to live. Near
the end of the video, the mother was admitted into the hospital to deliver her
stillborn baby.
The video continued by the couple talking about the immense
grief they felt for inevitable the loss of their child; the hopelessness, the
anxiety, the overwhelming sadness. Then, *plot twist*, you see a baby’s kicking
foot. You see the family holding their wonderful gift from God, their daughter who
had been healed in the womb and was delivered perfectly. Before your eyes, you
were seeing a miracle performed by the Lord above.
Then, the husband and wife started talking about how great
of a God we have. How loving, kind and generous He was to save their precious
child. How they were unbelievably blessed and lucky to be holding their child
in their arms.
I immediately exited off my screen and stopped watching.
NOT because I was angry that the couple witnessed a miracle-
I have nothing but joy and happiness for them. I can’t even begin to imagine
what that couple felt when they were able to hold their breathing, healthy
child in their arms for the first time. Praise God for the healer and miracle
worker that He is.
NOT because I didn’t believe the comments the couple was
making, I believe them with all my heart. We DO have a loving, generous,
gracious God who loves us immeasurably. I love seeing the couple give all the
glory to God and sharing their testimony with the Facebook world.
Instead, I grew angry because in my mind, the people posting
the videos, articles and status’s were making it seem like God’s goodness was
dependent on our circumstances here on Earth. And for me and my circumstances,
that equation doesn’t add up.
While this family was able to remain together, mine wasn’t.
While this family has their precious child, I don’t have my brother and my
parents don’t have their son. That family had weeks and weeks to beg God to
heal their child, while I didn’t have this opportunity. I didn’t have the
opportunity to get on my face before God and beg him to spare my brother’s
life. The point I’m making is: not
everyone gets the fairytale ending. My family certainly didn’t, and there
are other families out there who didn’t get it either.
So, what would the people posting the articles and blogs say
to those who didn’t receive the fairytale ending that this family did? Would
they post my brother’s obituary and say “What a great God we serve!” or “God is
good.”? I’m willing to bet that this wouldn’t be the case.
The reason I got so angry after repeatedly seeing these
videos and articles is because like I said, it leaves the impression that God’s
goodness is dependent on what is happening here on Earth. When in reality, this
couldn’t be farther from the truth. I’m not making the claim that people
shouldn’t be posting these videos- I think they are a wonderful portrayal of
God’s goodness here on Earth. However, I don’t want people to get used to the
idea that God is good ONLY IF they receive answers to their prayers that align
with their wants. That’s where we find ourselves in trouble.
God is good regardless of the circumstances going on in our
lives. How do I know this?
First, Luke 18:19 says “Why do you call me good?" Jesus
answered. "No one is good--except God alone.” It’s pretty self-explanatory.
Nobody and nothing is good, except for God alone.
Secondly, everything about God points to love. He is love
and He loves us with an everlasting love. He loves us even though He knows that
some of us will never love him back. (1 John 4:7-8)
Lastly, and even more importantly than that, is the fact
that He loved us so much that He sent His son to die for us. Again, He did it
knowing that the people He was killing His son for might never love Him for it.
He saved us from the penalty of sin which is death. He saved us from the power
of sin. He saved us from spending eternity in Hell. He saved us so that we
could be in a deep, personal, relationship with Him, the creator of the
universe.
So what does this mean?
- God could have simply been God- never intervened, never formed a relationship with us, nothing, and He still would have been good. It’s His character, it’s who He is.
- God sending Jesus to die on a cross for me and for you does nothing but prove His unfailing love for us. It proves His goodness, His kindness, His love. He didn’t have to prove it, but He loves us so much that He wanted to save us from not having a relationship with Him. It was a huge action that saves sinners like me and you, but when it comes down to it, it simply points to God’s goodness.
Why isn’t this enough
to satisfy us? Why do we continuously look to events here on Earth to determine
if God really is good or not? That’s not the way it works- we live in a broken,
fallen world. Bad things are going to happen, loved ones are going to be lost,
people are going to be hurt. But God, in His goodness, provided an escape, a
way out. Regardless of what is going on here on Earth, I choose to believe what
His word says, the truth- that God’s character is nothing but good and He has
already proven that by saving us from our sins.
For those who are in a place that feels
like a fairytale, keep proclaiming and believing that God is good! Use this
season of your life to build faith so that if and when you find yourself in a
dark place, you’ll undoubtedly know that God is good all the time, and all the
time, God is good.
