Have you ever been at a place in your life where someone says something about who God is and you just want to punch them in the face?
Or yell and scream at them.
Or heavily roll your eyes and tell them they have NO idea what they’re talking about?
I’ve 100% SO been there. Many times, actually. Most of them before I turned 20.
Before then, I scoffed at ANYONE who DARED tell me that God was good. Or that He had a good plan for my life. Or that He even cared.
Why?
Well, up until that time, my life had proved to be the opposite. Or at least, so it appeared to me.
My mom had died when I was 6 1/2 years old. She was a wonderful woman who loved God. There was NO reason why she had to die. She was good, godly, and incredibly loved. After that, my dad moved my siblings and me to another state to remarry. Sadly, the woman he married turned out to be narcissistic and verbally abusive. Nothing I did was ever good enough. I grew up believing the lie that I was a nuisance and someone no one would be able to love. Thankfully, they were only married for 7 years, but the damage was done.
Every time during those horrible 7 years and the 5 that followed their divorce, I would roll my eyes at anyone who mentioned God being good. There was just no way. At least, He definitely wasn’t good to me. I knew He was to a select few because I saw what I thought was evidence of Him being good to them. In my pain and confusion from my past, I thought they must have known the right words to get God to do what they asked for. Or they must have the right enough talent to be able to be used by God.
However… please hear me out when I share this with you:
GOD IS STILL GOOD
When your life isn’t going how you would have wanted: God is still good.
When your past has crippled you beyond what you feel you can get through: God is still good.
When your addictions and struggles feel like they’re impossible to conquer: God is still good.
When your heart feels like one more heartbreak will kill it: God is still good.
When your eyes are dried out from crying: God is still good.
When you see no light at the end of the tunnel: God is still good.
When your lungs seem like they can’t catch a full breath, as life seems too overwhelming: God is still good.
When you lose your job and can’t see how you will make ends meet: God is still good.
Countless ways our lives keep us in fear, anxious, and full of despair. The world is a dark and hard place to live, but just because it is, it doesn’t mean God is not good.
The most cliche passage in the Bible (because of its overuse – my opinion) is Jeremiah 29:11-13. I hated these verses sooooo much for years, but now I can confidently say it is complete gold and 1000% true. God does have a plan for our lives… it is ultimately for our good and to give us hope and a future.
(I was actually going to type out the Jer. 29 verses, but then I was directed to another passage that I have to say is just as good.)
Context: God is telling the Israelites about the consequences they’ll experience if they decide to choose to not follow the Lord. It’s in the midst of that hopelessness that He’s giving them this nugget…
But if from there you will seek (inquire for and require as necessity) the Lord your God, you will find Him if you [truly] seek Him with all your heart [and mind] and soul and life. When you are in distress and tribulation and all these things come upon you, in the latter days you will turn to the Lord your God and be obedient to His voice. For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not fail you or destroy you or forget the convenant of your fathers, which He swore to them. … To you it was shown, that you might realize and have personal knowledge that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him. (Deut. 4:29-31,35)
Sometimes we see the Lord more through our pain than when life is going well.
I want to challenge you today to push through (the best you can) any hurt, pain, or fear and begin today to choose to trust God. Seek Him, trust Him, and you will find Him in your life. It most likely won’t look anything like what you expect, but He is there. He cares. He has a plan. He will never abandon you.
For though the mountains should depart and the hills be shaken or removed, yet My love and kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace and completeness be removed, says the Lord, Who has compassion on you. – Isaiah 54:10
Keep your head up.
God has you.
But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This [peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord [those in whom the ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced], and this is their vindication from Me, says the Lord. – Isaiah 54:17
Even if your life doesn’t seem to show it, at least right now, know He has you, He’s making a way where there is no way, and He is still good. Always.
He never changes.
God bless you,
~Woman of Purity
Woman of Purity 