Taste and See: Exploring God's GoodnessSample

God’s Goodness

Do you believe God intends good for your life? 

You may say you do, but is that something you’re sure of in your core? And is the belief only that He is good when things feel good for you? Do you believe His personal goodness, even when things around you seem to speak otherwise?

If you’ve been disappointed that life hasn’t turned out the way you’d hoped it would, you may be tempted to think God has kept His best from you.

But He hasn’t.

He does not deliberately withhold good things from you because He is testing you. It’s the opposite:

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
 the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
 from those whose walk is blameless.

-Psalm 84:11 NIV

No good thing does He withhold. No. Good. Thing. This is our God.

How do we know this? What do we do when we’re stuck in a rut of worry and wonder where this goodness is? How do we tune our hearts and minds away from circumstances and our limited understanding and combat the temptation to fall into fear? 

We shift our hearts and minds to the One who knows them well, the One who knit us together and ordained our days. And we look to the Bible. Its pages reveal God’s character throughout history, His unchanging, unrelenting, consistent character.

Now isn’t the time to focus on the unknowns and what-ifs. Now is the time to switch our focus to the Father, who has seen all things since the beginning.

Focusing on God’s goodness leaves our hearts lighter. It lifts our perspective off ourselves and the situations around us and gives room for God’s glory to take center stage. We realign with His character and remember who He is and how He has proven Himself faithful again and again. 

Pause the fixation on fear. Allow yourself a few moments to be still before God and pay attention to His goodness. Breathe it in, slowly. Each breath is evidence of His goodness—you are alive.

When we open our eyes to God and His goodness, everything changes. Our hearts open, and we begin to seek out traces of His presence through our day.

Taste and see that the LORD is good. Blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him. Psalm 34:8 NIV

The more we are reminded of this truth, the better our spirit, mind, and heart align to Him.