Thanks for stopping by! This is Day 18 of my 2015 “31 Days Reflecting on God” series. Find the rest over here.
You are good and do good;
teach me your statutes. Psalm 119:68
“He’s such a good person.”
You hear it all the time. As I think about it, we often equate “good” with “nice.”
“He wouldn’t hurt a fly. Always thinking about others. So nice.”
Sometimes it seems so strange to me that the Bible would say that that “no one does good – not even one” (Romans 3:12), because I know lots of nice people, while over and over again we are told that God is good and does good. Is there such a contrast between God and us?
I don’t think what God means is that there are no nice people on the planet. We are all capable of doing nice things, of being unselfish, or of being moral. Anyone can make themselves do just about anything if they are persistent enough.
But in our inner being, none of us have the goodness that God does. His goodness defines him. And it’s a goodness that goes so far beyond how we think of it.Good does not always equal nice. Nice has more qualities of feeling comfortable or pleasing. Goodness seeks out the absolute best regardless of how comfortable the process may be.
For instance, as an exhausted, pregnant woman, at the end of the day, I sit watching the Food Network wishing for a hearty steak and potatoes. And if someone would fix it for me, that would be good for my body – nourishing and replenishing. But instead I settle for something nice – a bowl of cereal. I don’t want to put the effort into creating wholesome food that would be much more for my benefit than the quick fix I settle for.
People ask how God’s goodness can coexist with the evil in the world. I can’t answer the whys like that about God, but I’m very thankful that in his goodness he doesn’t waste the pain and trouble that comes my way. He doesn’t just let me wallow in my sin and brokenness. He puts out the effort to use the hard things to change me into a more whole person. He knows if only nice things happened to me in my sinful state, I would stay too comfortable to see my need for him. So he does allow hard things and then uses those things to do good in me.
His goodness cannot allow evil to remain in the heart that seeks after him. God may not always seem nice to us. But he is always good. His goodness goes down deep and makes the dirty clean and the broken whole.