God is good

Romans 8:28, ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.’  

These are not just the words of someone who hopes they may be true, these are words spoken in testimony because of all he has seen God do whatever the circumstances he faces in life.  

Paul by this time had been stoned and left for dead, imprisoned and had to flee for his life at least 4 times.  

These are the words of someone who has tested God in the hard times and found that He never comes up short.

He found that it does not matter what life throws our way, God has already equipped and enabled us to walk it in His grace. Grace is His enabling power at work in us.

1 Corinthians 10:13 says that God will not let us be tempted any more than we can take and this is the truth Paul knew – if he looked to God, He would enable him to see his circumstances from God’s perspective, would give him faith to believe God’s work and he knew that in God’s view if it is not good then He is not finished yet!

Looking from God’s perspective is our key to knowing that we know that we know that God is good, and this being a core foundation in our hearts is imperative if we are to walk out the hard times in our lives.

13 years ago my husband died very suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 45.  It was not good.  

However, because I knew that God was good through the lessons He had taught me over the years, I was able to declare over my husband’s dead body that though I did not understand it, I knew that He would was good and would, therefore, work it all for good and so I would praise Him and I would trust Him, even as the tears flowed freely.

 A key lesson God had taught me before this was to worship first and ask questions after. This is what Job did and I have never suffered what Job did in my life! 

In the moment that I declared that I would trust Him I opened the door for God’s supernatural grace to enter my life and closed the door to the lies of the enemy. As a result  of which, I walked a beautiful grief journey hand in hand with Holy Spirit.  Though I walked through pain I had joy and I had hope, these never left me.  

13 years on I walk in the good that God worked out for me because I love Him.  I love my life and I would not change any part of it.  Now, hear me right, if my husband was still alive I would still be very happily married to him but he is not and I would not change my life now. I truly do believe that I am the most blessed woman alive.

I get to pursue Jesus with all that I am and I get to live in Tanzania as part of that.

I get to serve the most amazing people and do life beside true world changers and revivalists, those who love well, the wonderful Tanzanian family God has given me.

We have a wonderful family home.

I have wonderful church family, both in Tanzania and the UK.

I get to encourage and call the gold out of people daily, both those who know Jesus and those who do not.

I am Papa’s favourite favourite and His eyes are ever on me.

I am loved and significant because of my big Brother Jesus.

I know who I am, whose I am and the authority He has given me and get to know more and more of this each and every day.

So does this mean it is all easy, absolutely not! Indeed, this week has been one of seeing God move mightily and of feeling hurt and disappointed by some things too. Our choice is not the circumstances we face but how we choose to walk through them.

I have 3 suggestions on how we choose to do this well, how we choose to keep believing in His goodness even when circumstances cause us to feel otherwise. I have chosen to use all of these this week to bring my heart back into joy and peace, while still recognising how my heart has felt. 

First, we need to ask God to see with His perspective, with His eyes, that is from the place He has seated us with Jesus. This gives us a kingdom perspective which believes the truth of what He says and cannot be swayed by the facts that our earthly eyes see. Why not take some time to meditate on the following verses from Colossians 3:1-3. ‘Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your heart on things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden in Christ.’

Second, we speak out our testimony, that is, we remind ourselves of all the times that God has been faithful to us in the past. Just as the Israelites were called to set up stones of remembrance to remind them of all that God had done for them so that they would not forget His goodness to them, it is important for us to do the same. If you don’t already journal, maybe it’s time to start and to begin creating your stones of remembrance that will help you to walk difficult times in the future knowing God is good.

Last, we need to declare God’s truth over ourselves and our circumstances. This helps God’s truth pass from our head to our heart and become a part of our belief system. Some suggestions are:

• Romans 8:28, ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.’  

• Philippians 1:6, ‘…being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of completion.’

• John 16:33, ‘”I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”’

• Isaiah 43:2, ‘”When you pass through the waters, I will be  with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”’

Why not take a moment now to ask Holy Spirit what declaration you need to make each day to take you deeper and deeper into knowing God is good. Making it part of your identity and the truth from which you respond in every situation. 

I believe that we can never reach the end of His goodness because He is infinite and has no beginning and no end. Therefore, for eternity we will be able to discover more and more of the beauty of His goodness, this is just the beginning. How amazing is that?

Adventures with Jesus

Undone by God’s goodness

Happy heart! Blessed indeed!