The word rolls off our tongue so easily.
Good.
“Wow, this cereal is so good!”
“We had a good time at the park.”
“Let me tell you where to get a good cup of coffee.”
“Sam is a really good husband.”
It’s become such a familiar and mundane word in our vocabulary that our mind doesn’t take the time to consider the content. So when we read that God is good, what’s meant to happen inside our soul doesn’t always happen.
“Truly God is good to Israel” – Psalm 73:1. When you read the words “God is good,” your heart should be filled with many things: wonder, amazement, gratitude and humility, to name a few.
But I am convinced that many of us live day after day with no wonderment whatsoever. We exist for weeks, maybe even months, without being amazed. We walk through life without an overwhelming sense of gratitude. We handle our situations, locations and relationships with an attitude of entitlement.
This is the opposite of the way we were created to live. We were meant to live with eyes gazing upward and outward. We were designed to live with hearts that are searching and hungry (and being satisfied in God).
Every word we speak, every action we take, every decision we make, and every desire we entertain was meant to be influenced by our awe of God’s goodness.
But because of sin, few things impress us anymore. Or, at least, the wrong things are the ones that make the biggest impression.
When sin takes your amazement away, you’ll look for ways to fill the void. And if you’re not getting your sense of wonder vertically from the Creator, you will look for it somewhere in the creation.
Has it happened to you? Are you shopping for the buzz of wonder where it simply won’t be found?
That new restaurant will blow your taste buds away, but it won’t introduce you to the soul-satisfying wonder of God. That new car will transport you in luxury for a while, but it has no capacity whatsoever to transport your soul to a place of peace. Your new job title might impress your friends and family at first, but it cannot supply you with the glory that you’re seeking.
Asaph, the Psalmist, uncovers what we’re all looking for in a single word:
“Good”
We’re looking for pure, unadulterated, imperishable, unending and unfailing good. Good that only God can provide. Good that we want and need.
Truly, God is good in every possible way. Good in:
Righteousness
Power
Grace
Faithfulness
Provision
Mercy
Holiness
Justice
Anger
Sovereignty
All his words are good. All his actions are good. When he gives, he is good. When he takes, he is good.
Nothing in creation is like him. Everything around us is flawed in some way. Even before the Fall, no glory in creation compared to the beauty of the Creator.
No, it’s not too good to be true: God is good all the time and in every way.
That should amaze you every single day!
This article originally appeared here.
