God is good!
We often say this when there is a happy ending to a life event. There’s a song that we sing that proclaims it. Our heart believes it when things are going well.
However, what happens when we don’t get that happy ending, when life is sad and difficult and painful? Will our heart continue believing it when we don’t understand why He allowed something bad to happen or why He didn’t turn events around to spare us or our loved one from suffering?
What do we do when God doesn’t seem good?
Do I Trust God?
It’s a common struggle and a prevalent reason many will turn their back on God and walk away from their faith. At some point in our lives, things will go wrong and bad things will happen. What do we do when we reach these crossroads? Is it a valid reason to reject God?
Sometimes life is like a story. You know, the story in which the hero or heroine turns to their beloved and looks very seriously at them and says, ‘Soon, I’m going to do something that may look or feel very bad to you. You won’t understand it, and I won’t be able to explain why I’m doing it; but you must trust me. All will be revealed later, and you will understand then.’
And as the story unfolds, the relationship between the hero or heroine and their loved one is put to the test. Either the trust between them has a strong foundation and weathers the storm, or it cannot withstand the pressure of misunderstanding and negative perceptions. Then finally all the facts come to light, and the hero/heroine’s actions are explained, finally making sense. They were noble and good after all, and their beloved one finally understands.
If their relationship is still intact, their love flourishes as the trust and faith between them is strengthened even further. If not, the loved one usually returns in shame, recognizing that they were wrong and should have trusted the hero or heroine despite appearances.
Unlike the story, we often don’t get advanced warning of the storm coming. In fact, many of life’s tragedies blindside us, catching us completely unawares and unprepared.
However, God warns us that we will suffer because we are human and live in a broken world; and additionally that we will suffer as Christians living in a sinful world.
- “In the world you will have tribulation…” (John 16:33)
- “Many are the afflictions of the righteous…” (Psalm 34:19)
- “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…” (2 Timothy 3:12)
While we may not know what these trials will look like, God does warn us that they will come.
How We Should Trust God
Let’s continue to use the story I referenced as an allegory to life. Like the loved one in the story, one of the most important lessons that I think we need to learn is to not judge our Hero’s character based on the appearance of our circumstances or even our current emotions (our Hero being God).
Instead, we must judge based on His priorities, consistency, and trustworthiness. What do His past actions say about who He is and what His character is like? Could we be allowing our pain to skew our perception and misinterpret His intentions? Before crediting God with being cold, disinterested, or harsh, we need to look at His words and actions to see if they align with what we’re thinking and feeling about Him during the present crisis.
Firstly, God has proven Himself trustworthy and faithful. In fact, we have thousands of years of evidence on which to fall back. From the moment sin entered the world, God put a plan in motion to redeem mankind, and He worked persistently through thousands of people and across time and space to fulfill that promise.
Along the way, we see other promises that God made to individuals that He upheld. For example, God promised Abraham that He would give him a son and eventually make of him a great nation (Genesis 15:1-6). We see this promise fulfilled through Isaac and his lineage that grew into the nation of Israel.
Later, God promised to rescue the Israelites from Egyptian slavery and to bring them to a beautiful promised land. God promised and God delivered. In fact, Joshua wrote, “Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass” (Joshua 21:45).
Additionally, God made a promise to His people that if they would obey Him that He would bless them greatly; however, if they disobeyed Him, God promised punishment and judgment. We see God’s word affirmed over and over throughout the Old Testament as Israel turned away from God, was conquered and/or taken into captivity, returned to Him, and was brought back to their homeland again. The promise of spiritual renewal and deliverance reached back all the way to Abraham and his descendants, and God did not forget.
God Has Fulfilled His Promises
The arrival of Jesus into the world and His earthly ministry satisfied many promises spoken by God from the beginning.
- “For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy…” (Romans 15:8,9).
- “For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him [Jesus]. That is why it is through Him that we utter our Amen to God for His glory” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
However, the ultimate confirmation of God’s credibility was the offering of His Son Jesus on the cross to secure our forgiveness and salvation. By not withholding or sparing Jesus, God proved that He would do whatever it took to fulfill His promise of redemption, even if it meant the torture and death of His beloved Son.
- “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9)
- “He who did not withhold His own Son, but gave Him up for all of us, will He not with Him also give us everything else?” (Romans 8:32)
If there was ever proof that we can trust God, this is it!
Also, by offering Jesus in our place, God presents the ultimate evidence of His love for us.
- “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)
- “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).
God’s love has been steadfast.
- “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3)
- “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Psalm 86:15).
The power and constancy of that love means that it is present even in the midst of what may feel like betrayal.
Surely with this kind of track record, God deserves our trust and loyalty despite how dark our present situation may be. If we can learn to look at our circumstances through the lens of God’s faithfulness and love, we can combat the lies Satan tries to feed us about the unworthiness and cruelty of God. We can learn to rest in the knowledge of His goodness and holiness during our darkest days.
This is what Biblical heroes such as Job, Joseph, and Paul did. They looked beyond the pain and despair they were experiencing and trusted in God. In fact after suffering staggering losses of his livelihood and goods, family, and personal health, Job proclaimed, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him…” (Job 13:15).
Similarly, Joseph demonstrated amazing faith after being sold into slavery by his brothers, thrown into prison due to false accusations, and living away from his homeland and family for the majority of his life. Speaking to his brothers, Joseph was able to extend forgiveness and mercy because he saw God’s love and goodness even through the tragedies of his life. He told them, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20).
Lastly, Paul demonstrates the same trust in the character of God despite circumstances that may have tempted him to doubt. Listen to what Paul endured: “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure” (2 Corinthians 11:25-27).
And yet it was Paul who wrote, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). He knew that while God may not always shield His people from the pain of this world, He does promise to use our suffering to bring about good, to fulfill His plan for His people.
Yes, God is Still Good
So circling back to the allegory I used previously — God is the hero in our life, and many times He does or allows things to happen that look and feel painful and downright bad. We can’t understand how He can do or allow these things.
But He implores us, ‘Beloved, trust Me despite how bad things seem in the moment. I have a purpose for these things, and I hope that our relationship will be strong enough to weather the storm.’ Perhaps it is a test. Will our trust and faith be strong enough to survive? Or will we return in shame later, acknowledging that God was right and knew best after all?
And it could be that we will never understand in this lifetime, but He has shown us powerfully over and over again how much He loves us and how much we can trust Him. He is noble and good and deserves our trust, unfaltering love, and devotion.
And if we hold on, our relationship will grow and our love will blossom like never before. So hold on to your faith even when God doesn’t seem good!
