The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"All the Time"
At one of the retirement communities where we conduct services, a dear lady regularly interjects the comment during my sermons, "God is good all the time." He is, of course.
"The Lord is good to all, and His tendermercies are over all His works" (Psalm 145:9).
I have learned to flow with Mrs. Johnson's affirmation. "Yes He is, Mrs. Johnson" I respond, and then proceed with whatever point I currently address. She means well, states a truth we all need to hear, and usually picks good moments in which to add her commentary (might actually be the best parts of my sermons!).
Seriously, we do all need to be reminded of God's goodness. Not so much in terms of doctrine or belief, but rather in the challenges of life when He sometimes acts in ways differently than we desire. As much as He loves to bestow happy and pleasant blessings upon His trusting children in Christ, it is also true that "Thou hast showed Thy people hard things" (Psalm 60:3). Presently, we require our Lord to administer and allow difficulties as well as delights. "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Our spiritual enemies pounce in such times, seeking to question in our minds the ways of our Heavenly Father (consider Job's wife and three friends who served as Satan's deceiving and discouraging mouthpieces when the man of God suffered so greatly). Thus, we all need to be reminded, encouraged, and challenged to join the Spirit of God, the Word of God, and the servants of God like Mrs Johnson to affirm, "God is good."
No more important truth can form and inform our hearts than the nature of perfect and infinite goodness that comprises the heart of God. "Thou art good, and doest good" (Psalm 119:68). He cannot be other than who He is, and He cannot do other than that which accords with who He is. No trace of evil has ever passed through His pristinely perfect heart, nor will His hand ever commit even the most minute act of moral wrong. "As for God, His way is perfect" (II Samuel 22:31). We cannot hear it enough, nor affirm it enough among each other in a world that "lieth in wickedness" and constantly thus lies wickedly regarding the character and nature of God (I John 5:19).
"Good all the time" declares Mrs. Johnson. Yes He is, my dear sister, and we might add, "Eternally good, from everlasting to everlasting." He cannot be otherwise. He cannot act otherwise. I am grateful for the reminders that encourage us to recall our Heavenly Father can be trusted with all our hearts, all the time, including this moment and whatever it may involve in each of our lives.
"Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee; which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!"
(Psalm 31:19).
Weekly Memory Verse
Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee; which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!
(Psalm 31:19)
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