05182025 God is Good

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our good God. This week God caused me to think about His goodness. Specifically, about what makes God good.

In brief, here is the background. I finally managed to arrange a much-needed vacation, which I expected to spend mostly outdoors. And it rained. And rained. And rained. I had prayed about this vacation from the beginning, then as it approached, and then each day. I asked God to let it work out and to be favorable for me. Rain was not my idea of favorable.

I pondered God’s response to my prayer. And my response to His response. I had feelings of disappointment and even something bordering on betrayal. Why had God let me down? Why did He not see fit to bless me with a favorable outworking of what I believed was His will for me? Did He not know how much this meant to my spirit and how much better it would be for me if I could have sunshine and nice days? Why did He not show His goodness to me at a time that it would have been special?

The answer that God gave me is that God is good not because He does for us what we deem to be good. He is good because … well, because He is good. It is His character. He cannot be anything but good.

“Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes” (Psalm 119:68).

Sometimes God will show His goodness by answering our prayers or by doing things that we consider to be good for us. But if He doesn’t, He is still good. I realized that I cannot think about God’s goodness primarily in what He does, that is, in specific actions. Rather, I must think about God’s goodness primarily in who He is.

God is good because He is faithful. God is good because He is righteous. God is good because He is holy, loving, compassionate, immutable, gracious, merciful, and so on. His combination of attributes makes Him good.

Because He is good, He will also do good. Those actions might not be what I want or expect. But I am not the only player in the situation. God does what is good for all. God sends rain to bless the earth. The rain this week improved our county’s drought level from severe drought to moderate drought. The drought has been an issue for a few years, and recently wildfires have occurred in surrounding areas. Just on that fact alone, I can say that God did what was good. He sent His blessing.

Then, of course, there is Romans 8:28. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” All things. So in some way God’s rain was good for me personally, probably beyond the benefit to the earth. If it caused me to think correctly about His goodness, then it was good for me. And if it gave me the opportunity to accept His answer without bitterness or anger or rebellion, then it was also good for me.

Would I have chosen rain this week? No. But I choose to believe the truth that God is good. May our good God bless you this week.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA