Good

A couple months ago, someone asked me to write some devotionals.  I've decided to revise them a little into my upcoming posts.

In preparing for my first assignment, I asked my friend D what was one thing God has taught her through being single.  She hit me with this verse:

"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. Lord Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you."
Psalm 84:11-12

She explained that she learned that God doesn't withhold good things from His people.  He sees all things and knows what is good for us and what will be good for us.

If you asked me, I would say I believe that God is good.  Yet the root of my worry, my impatience, and even much of my sin lies in my struggle to not only assent to a good God in thought but also believe and trust in this with my whole being.

When we experience anxiety about our present, worry about our future; when we experience frustration or despair that our lives look different than we imagined they would, or even wrestle with the command to abstain from sins such as envy or sexual immorality, we have lost sight of God's goodness and God's love for us.

I have found that I need to be reminded that God's plans for me are not only good but supremely good.

When Eve sinned in the Garden, she first believed the lies that the enemy told her that God was withholding something good from her.  He told her that eating the fruit would not bring death but something good that God did not want her to have.  She doubted God's very character: God's perfect goodness.  She doubted His perfect love for her, and so she tried to grasp at what she thought she was missing.

Don't we do that too?  It is as if God is taking us to a 5-course feast at the best restaurant in the world but on the way, when the drive seems long and unknown, we doubt that God is taking us anywhere good at all.  We opt out for the McDonald's drive-thru, scraping together our spare change for the dollar menu.

We either spend our time in fear and worry about our future or grasp for what we think will bring us joy instead of trusting in the goodness of our Father.

So much of being single for me is trusting in God's timing, God's goodness, and God's plans for my life, but it is easier said than done.  Sometimes, when doubts creep in, I need to speak words that affirm who I know God to be: God is good, God is faithful, God is loving.

I need to remember that God is steadfast.  He is always true to His character.  I believe that God does not have just a good plan but the best plan.  I trust that God does not withhold what he knows is good from his children.