Greatness & Goodness

God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. This is an easy statement within Christianity. It is said and repeated by Church’s on Sunday morning, it begins prayers and ends them, but what about in pain?

He remains irrefutably good. When your heart is breaking and you feel it will require all your strength to walk to your car. When the simple formulation of an idea within your brain feels like needles being simultaneously wrenched down on your skull. When a man who has been a key figure in your life lies dead in the coffin. When you feel utterly alone; when your tears and screams fall into bitter silence; when the always-gleeful dog is just as depressed as you are.

He is good. He is enough. The fountain of God is continually overflowing. The radiance of his light is always shining. He is the fullness of all the goodness you could ever want to hope or know. He is your fortress.

All of that is easy to say. Indeed it may be simple to read. But in your heart it must be applied as a bandage to the wound. Only then will your waking eyes see this goodness. Only then will his radiance be beheld.

“For he made him who knew no sin to be sin so that you might become the righteousness of God; for while you were still a sinner Christ died for you; there is therefore now no condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus; for God who said, ‘let light shine out of darkness’ has shone in your dark heart to reveal the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 5:8; 8:1; 2Cor 4:6)

I know of no better way to say it than this: Be at peace in the greatness of the goodness of the glory of God, which you have been shone by the grace of your wondrous God.

Therefore when the broken heart is present, the greatness of God is seen. When the formulation of an idea is an unbearable pain, the peace of God will reign. When the man lays dead, the goodness of God wells up. When you feel utterly alone and the tears and screams fall on bitter silence and the gleeful dog is depressed, the glory of God will sustain.

For “…we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Rom 8:28)” Therefore Christian, “Walk in a manner worthy of your calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph. 4:1-3)