God is good (all the time)

“God is good!”

These words were hard for me to process after Ethan died. I often heard them in response to great news–healing from a medical condition, the birth of a healthy baby, or another dream fulfilled. I couldn’t articulate why the words left me feeling ruffled. Perhaps I felt isolated and defensive of God’s character. The words were never meant to come across this way, but I often felt as if people meant “God is good *because* that story had a nice ending”. And if this were true, He must not have been good to me. I felt defensive of God’s character because I wanted people to know He still would have been good if the healing hadn’t come or a heartbreaking loss had occurred.

God is good. He is the very definition of Good. Nothing is good apart from Him. It is so important for us to remember God's goodness is not contingent on our circumstances. God’s goodness stands true when the womb is empty, the diagnosis is fatal, or the cancer spreads. He is good when the healing comes, the precious child is born, or the miraculous occurs, and He is equally good in seasons of waiting, in pain, and when the answer is “no”.

It is good and right to declare “God is good” when the He provides us with healing, restored relationships, beautiful children, health, and good things we ask for. But let’s not stop there. May we proclaim His goodness when the earthly good we hope for never comes. May we rest in His goodness, knowing He gives us permission to grieve and lament, and that He does not rejoice over the evil and brokenness in our world. May we be comforted knowing that this is not the end of the story, that we have been redeemed, and that Christ will return one day to make all things new.

God is good. All the time. May we fix our eyes on Christ and all he has done of us, and allow our hearts to be overwhelmed by the glory of his goodness.