Always Good

James 1:17 - But whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God, the Creator of all light, and he shines forever without change or shadow.

Psalm 145:9 - The LORD is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works.

Psalm 86:5- For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.

1 Chronicles 16:34 - O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Psalm 106:1 - Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

I could fill this entire blog post with scriptures about the goodness of God. The ones I listed above are only a few. I am grateful to have been brought up in a home that taught me God is always good. I have walked through seasons in my life that weren’t always good, but I have never doubted God’s goodness to me. I love what my Pastor always says, “You can draw a line down the middle of your life. If it’s good, it’s God, if it ain’t good, it ain’t God.” Then he follows it with, “I know that’s not good grammar but it gets the point across.” Smile. Such a simple yet profound truth. I know life is not always perfect and sometimes there are things that transpire that we don’t understand and may leave us with questions. But the point is that we never have to question God’s character no matter what we may be facing. He is good. Always.

Matthew 7:9-11 says, “If a child asks his father for a loaf of bread, will he be given a stone instead? If he asks for fish, will he be given a poisonous snake? Of course not! And if you hard-hearted, sinful men know how to give good gifts to your children, won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask him for them?” I love being a Mom and I count it a privilege to take care of my daughter and provide for her. I jump at the chance to be a blessing to her and give her what she asks for. And compared to the Father, I can’t even consider myself good! So how much more is the Heavenly Father going to bestow His goodness on us!

I recall a time not too long ago that a city close to my hometown suffered one tragedy after the next. It felt as though every time we turned on the news we were hearing about another rip to the fabric of that community. I remember seeing a post on Instagram after one particular sad event and it went something like this: “We’ll never know why God does the things He does, He is sovereign. We just have to accept it and move on from here.” All at once I felt a flood of emotions sweep over me. I almost laughed at first, sarcastically thinking “Oh yeah, God did this.” Then I felt angry. Angry that someone would spread something so awful and erroneous about my Father! He would never do something like this. Then I felt sad that someone could actually believe that God would cause harm. I felt defensive towards this person who was attacking the character of God and I remember thinking, “Lord, how does this make you feel?” Then I sensed a compassion rising up within me. A feeling of care and concern that I hadn’t felt just minutes before. I thought, “I need to say something and say it now! People need to know that God is good all the time and they can rest in Him knowing that He only ever does good. Always and only good!” You’re probably thinking, “Duh, Sharon, that’s why we were instructed to share the Good News with the world!” And you’re right! The Great Commission - make disciples of all nations. But suddenly I sensed an urgency to tell people that God is good, in every way. If they know how good He is, and how loving and faithful and merciful He is, they would be drawn to Him! According to Romans 2:4 it is His kindness and GOODNESS that lead men to repentance, and I want to be a powerful voice that declares His goodness and proclaims His kindness. That morning, while I was out on my run thinking about this very subject, I wrote a song entitled “Always Good”. You can hear it on my upcoming EP soon, but until then I want to share the lyrics with you.

Always Good

To the soul that is aching He is good To the heart that is breaking He is good

To the mind that is racing He is good

He is good He is good He is good

When the weight of loss is heavy He is good In the face of every tragedy He is good With the mountain right in front of me He is good

He is good He is good He is good

And though weeping may endure for the night

In the morning I will dry my eyes

And I declare He is good He is good I don’t care what I see and what’s not understood

I will say He is good He is good With every breath in me My testimony Will forever be He is good Forever He is good

In the heat of the fire He is good In the flood of the water He is good

If your foot starts to falter He is good