Foster the FamilySample

Day Six

The Character of God

Scripture: Psalm 34:8; Psalm 56:3 James 1:17

My fingers shook as I dialed my husband’s number.

“Hello?”

“They removed him again.” I jumped right in. “They removed him, and our license is suspended because of that stupid, bogus investigation, and they’re going to bring him to some strangers’ house, and strangers are going to adopt him, and we’re never, ever going to see him again. And I am not okay!”

If you picture me walking around my kitchen in circles, crying and gasping for breath between each word, you would be right. My husband’s response, through his pained realization that our beloved former foster son may be placed somewhere else, was this: “Jamie, God is good. And everything He does is good.” I hung up and I repeated it like a mantra as I continued to walk around my kitchen in circles. God, You are good, and everything You do is good. God, You are good, and everything You do is good. God, You are good . . .

I fall into fear when I define who God is by what I see rather than defining what I see by who God is. And who is He? God is omnipresent, everywhere all the time. God is omniscient, knowing everything from every time. God is omnipotent, having all the power ever needed for anything. God is sovereign, perfectly in control of every person and place and thing. God is immutable, never changing because He can never get any better or any worse. God is eternal, existing from forever past to forever future. God is holy, perfect and pure, separate and unlike His creation. God is wise. God is righteous. God is good. God is merciful. God is love.

These are real truths about the real God who is involved in every part of my life. They’re not platitudes or plaque quotes. They are the most determining factors of my fate, the most decisive forces in my life and in the lives of those I love. And they are the reason I can trust in Him.

So amid fear, I can speak with confidence in who He is: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you” (Psalm 56:3).

God, You are good. God, You are merciful. God, You are righteous. God, You are wise. God, You are ________ [Continue with every attribute of God that comes to your mind.] Amen.