God Is Good Anyway

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Psalm 23:6

God is good. All the time. The verse in Psalm says all the days of my life His mercies and goodness would follow me.

And sure, that sounds good. It’s encouraging and uplifting. But what about the bad days? What about the horrible ones? If His goodness is following me every day, then how come some days just aren’t good?

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.” Nahum 1:7

The Bible says He is a stronghold in the day of trouble. Meaning that trouble doesn’t come because God stopped being good. God is good in the midst of trouble.

Your present circumstances do not define God’s constant goodness.

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I went through the toughest trouble I’d ever faced when my baby girl, Braven, was a newborn. Her health issues were scary and those days were dark.

I remember using every ounce of strength I could muster up, which didn’t feel like much at all, singing “God is so good.” Even when everything going on felt like God had somehow forgotten to be good to me that day.

But since then I can say that believing God is genuinely good, regardless of what is going on, is so important for overcoming your circumstances.

I mean truly believing it. Even when it doesn’t feel good, doesn’t look good, and isn’t getting any better right away.

When you are able to face your negative situations with the response of, “God. Is. Good.” I believe that Hell trembles.

I remember when Braven, was in the hospital and we had no idea what exactly what going on, we just knew it was very serious. I’ve never felt that exposed before- my whole world was lying on that table hurting and I couldn’t do anything.

But from somewhere deep inside me arose this determination of praise. And I sat there and sang, “God is good, all the time. He put this song of praise in this heart of mine. God is good.”

It was broken and stuttered through tears and pain, but those words hit Heaven. Those words shook Hell. Those words collided with the atmosphere of the physical realm as well as the spiritual realm unlike ever before for me. Because for the first time in my life it looked like God’s goodness had made a mistake, but I sang anyway.

“My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast and confident! I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to You!… For your faithfulness and lovingkindness are great, reaching to the heavens, and Your truth to the clouds.”   Psalm 57:7;10

When we are steadfast in worship regardless of our circumstance, Hell loses all authority in the situation and God gets room to move.

And move He did. Nowadays, you would never know she had a rough start. She is growing and learning perfectly. She is happy. She is healthy. But things didn’t get better immediately after I sang. In fact, they got worse before they got better. But they did get better.

I had to choose to believe God was good anyway many times after that initial response. But I did. And you know what, He didn’t let me down. My praises didn’t go underserved or unheard. He did it.

Jesus took it all on the cross. The saving work is done. The healing work is done. The peace is available. The mercy is constant. The protection is hovering. It’s all there. All the promises in the Bible are readily and constantly available to us as Christians.

Sometimes they’re easier to grab onto than others. Sometimes it is war with your flesh to hang onto peace, even though it belongs to you. Sometimes it takes blood, sweat, and tears to grab hold of the healing that you need. And I won’t pretend to have all the answers to why.

But this I know, God made everything you will ever need available to you when He sent His Son to die for you. Long before you were born, long before any problem ever arose, long before you needed or knew Him- He was good to you.

That’s why when bad things happen you can confidently and passionately state that God is good, anyway.

No matter what happens in life, even though things may hurt, God defeated death, Hell, and the grave. In the end, whether in death or in life, God. Is. Good. And there is great power in believing that in today. 

Be Blessed!