The other day I began a long day of travel reminded of God’s glory through a bit of rainbow.
On the freeway I reached a sudden stop in traffic. The car behind me swerved back and forth repeatedly. Amazingly, he didn’t hit me. Despite all the swerving and the closeness of his car to mine we all drove on without an accident.
Not a scratch nor a dent. Honestly, I was pretty amazed and in a bit of shock. I thanked God for allowing me to keep on driving safely, but I did so with as little thought as when I thanked him for not getting pulled over earlier.
By the next day, I’d nearly completely forgotten. I was intentional to see God’s goodness in the sky at the beginning of the day, yet, when my life was nearly altered forever I was quick to forget.
Was it God’s goodness that no damage was done? Yes, though my heart wrestles to call it such. It holds on to the reality that I could have died. I could have been forever impaired in some significant way. When something bad could have happened, but doesn’t, we are prone to say “God is good.” But if it had been bad, would we still consider it the goodness of God?
Lord, may it be so.
Deep down I know this; God is always good. When the awful and the evil affect our lives He is not unaware. He does not become less sovereign. He is still God and He is still good.
This morning my belief is tested again.
I received a text. “I’m very blessed to be alive after tonight…”
Not what you want to see from your 18-year-old son first thing in the AM.
An immediate phone call filled-in the mother-needs-to-know details. He shouldn’t be alive, but he is.He could have killed someone else on the road, but he didn’t. Instead, the extent of injuries are his and they include glass in his hands and arms. A very clear miracle.
God is good. Yes. But what if, what if he didn’t make it? What if he or someone else was severely injured? God must still be good. Why? Because…
God’s goodness is not bound by our circumstances, it is inherent in His very nature.
God’s goodness is unchangeable and unaffected by our perceptions.
God is good even when life is not.
I’m hundreds of miles away from my son and unable to check in on him. He could still be dealing with a concussion and there is nothing I can do from far away. I have no control over the outcomes. So I pray. I ask others to pray with me.
When circumstances become challenging or down right devastating, we are likely to take our eyes off of God as good. Our eyes are clouded, our hearts are shrouded and suddenly {we perceive} God is not who we thought He was.
But He always is who He is.
Every day it lurks in my mind that I could receive a devastating call with regards to this child. Yet, for reasons only known to our sovereign God, a divine miracle occurred last night. Given all the circumstances this outcome is nothing short of amazing.
After speaking to my son I check my email. My daily verse is time stamped at 3:14 AM, which is within minutes of the accident.
As Jennifer Dukes Lee calls it, this is a clear God-incidence. God is not done with what He has for this young man.
Many years ago he memorized this verse. It stuck with him so much that he emblazoned it upon his body…
This is not a coincidence. I’m sure this is a God-incidence.
Many use this verse in a limited sense, to proclaim that God will give us good things if only we believe enough, or well enough. We would do well to read the verse in context as it is clear that the Lord’s purposes extend far beyond that which our feel good prophets would tell us.
God is good because He is.
For me, for my son, for all of us who have read this verse and stopped there…keep reading.
For all of us who need a reminder that God is not only good, but He is calling us near to Him, let us listen.
For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you,
and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,
for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name;
I did not send them, declares the Lord .
“For thus says the Lord : When seventy years are completed for Babylon,
I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord ,
plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. – Jeremiah 29:8-13
By the way, my friend Meredith shares this verse today. So timely too, don’t you think?
How do you know that God is good? What scripture reminds you of His goodness, even when life seems bad?
Oh Jolene, I gasped when I saw the truck. I am praising the Lord for His angels which surrounded him, the he was not hurt and that no one else was hurt. I cannot imagine receiving that phone call and not being close by. I’m just so truly grateful. Hugs!
Thank you for praying and praising with me Barbie!
God is good because He is. True. And tested most as a parent. In fact, my faith is messiest as a parent. Getting better, but. Just But. Will pray for you and your boy.
Psalm 139, of late, has held me fast, as His right hand:
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Thank you Sue! Those verses have been ringing out to me as well, for other reasons. I so appreciate you sharing. Prayers with you as our faith is tested through parenting.
Jolene, I am so thankful both of you are okay. Seeing God’s goodness in the face of tragedy, or near tragedy, is always a challenge. As I watch my Mother decline so very rapidly, I am being intentional about looking for God and His goodness in all of it. He has made Himself very present, and very good in all of it. Bless you.
Thank you so much Leah. I can imagine that this time must be very hard. I am spending time with my parents now and enjoying the moments we have. Blessings, friend.
Praise God your son is OK. I had a wonderful encounter of this today that God is good even when life is not. I had an overwhelming sense of God’s worthiness and awesomeness despite life’s circumstances. It was amazing! What you said is right! He is good!
Henri Nouwen says that the believer’s call to be grateful is a call to be grateful for EVERYTHING, not just the stuff we would pick out and call good, because God uses every single thing to bring us along the road Home. I can kind of get that about 10 years down the road, when I start to see how He’s using things. But in the moment? Eesh. I’m trying to learn how to be fully, honestly, absolutely in the vulnerable emotions of the moment–in the pain without denial–while also trusting that he is fully, absolutely Loving, Good, and the embodiment of Redemption.
Oh, friend. I am SO glad your son is well. And I love the message God is cultivating through this space – He is always GOOD even when our lives are not. It’s so easy to see the lines as blurred – as His goodness dependent on something here on this earth. But that is a lie. And it’s spaces like this that announce His truth.