The Goodness of the Lord

Ever since my sister was in preschool my family has carried on the tradition of starting family meals (those consumed in our house) with a simple song of thanks as an intro into prayer. It goes like this:

"Oh the Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord for giving me the things I need like the sun and the rain and the appleseed. The Lord is good to me (and my family)."

This afternoon as we sat down to lunch, it occurred to me the irony in living out something we don't always believe at the time. For instance, I may not believe rejecting sin is in my best interest in the moment. Today it struck me as we sung the words to this little childhood song. 

We can always mindlessly say or do something. I suppose it's the Lord's grace revealed when we see our words are not demonstrating the feeling of our heart. Whether I feel like God is good is not the final say. He is. That's it. Yasta, as we would say in Spanish. 

In conjunction with this I was reminded of a Bible study in Spain where at least twice we set aside a time to read Psalm 136 and reflect. We would read the passage. Then we would recount what God had done in our loves and midst and repeat together, "...for His steadfast love endures forever." 

As I re-read this passage tonight, I saw the rub between what we might see as good with our human eyes and what is actually the goodness of the Lord. But God was in it for His people and for His glory. Needless to say, we do see that the people whom He loved and had chosen were in captivity. Would we be tempted to doubt His goodness in the face of a trial and/or refining such as this? My hand is raised in accord. 

Jesus didn't promise an absence of suffering. In fact, it almost seems that Christians are assured of its presence. As a friend pointed out to me, God notices and cares for even the sparrow...but nevertheless the sparrow still falls. We aren't promised ease, but we are promised comfort, security, joy, love. When we can't see or grab hold of these in the moment, we can hope as we believe in faith.

All this to say, as we were singing earlier, the thought of God's goodness seemed a little hard to believe. In the moment. 

But God's grace is sufficient. He died for us when we did not believe, and He loves to blow our expectations with His goodness and greatness. He graciously shows us our faulty thinking. More often than not it is unexpected and redefines our idea or definition. 

Rest assured in the truth though: He is good. His love endures forever. 

No matter what we are feeling, may His grace allow us to continually offer up genuine thanks.