"God and His Goodness"

That’s the question that people have been asking for centuries as they face sickness or pain or suffering or injustice in their lives and I think the reason we ask that question when we’re suffering is because we link our faith so closely to God’s goodness.

When bad things happen in our lives or when good things fail to happen in life – we tend to go quickly to our faith. And we go quickly to our faith because we believe that God is good, and that he desires to bless us with good things and that He desires to make our lives better. I mean ultimately, that’s what we want to believe isn’t it? That - because God is good – so should my life be. And when that doesn’t happen - when my life isn’t as good as I had hoped it would be or when my life is way worse than even I thought it would be then it shoots holes in my faith.

When we have reason to question God’s goodness in our lives that is usually where we also questions the strength of our faith walk.

Now – whether or not our faith should even be affected by the condition of our lives is a whole other question, but for most of us , most of the time God’s goodness is based in whether or not God can be trusted. And most of the time whether it’s connected or not, most of the time we weigh how much God can be trusted by the condition our lives are in at that time.

So depending on where your life is at during these days you’ll be ahead of this message or behind it. If your life is in a rough spot then you may already be asking the question.

Is God good? And perhaps you have some answers, (and if you do have some answers, I wish you would have sent me an email Thursday morning because that’s when I needed it). Or if your life is rolling and you’re in a great space during this season then I bet you haven’t asked this question in a while - or even thought about it. Either way, the question is there to be asked.

So go ahead and ask it. Is God good? In fact, I believe we must ask that question because until you and I wrestle with God’s goodness - our faith may not be as strong as we think it is.

Here’s what I believe. I believe until we face a few storms and trials in life, storms that force us to question God’s goodness, until that happens in our life faith cannot be complete. Folks, nothing is as strong as we think it is until it is tested - nothing is as strong as we think it is until the wind and storms and fires of life test it. And our faith is no different.

Now, let me read you what the bible says about God’s goodness . . .

In my bible there is one page that is marked up more than any other and that page is in the book of Psalms. Listen to how it describes God and his goodness. It has been the most read page in my bible for years.

I’ll read some verses . . .

Psalm 103:8, 10, 11 & 13 (NIV)

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who follow him; As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who follow him;

That is as clear a definition of the goodness of God that you willever get. Goodness is who God is in very essence and in every action - He is good!

Now, to be honest nearly every book in the bible has a verse or two that ring true to those I just read. And throughout history nearly every theologian that has ever written and nearly every spiritual leader that has ever spoken has described God with those words. God is good and His love endures forever, of that there is no question, but if that’s true then how come when life goes sideways we ask it almost immediately?

How come we doubt the goodness of God so fast when those storms of life surround us?

Well to answer that let me take you to a book in the bible where we have never been before.

It’s right at the end of the Old Testament, 1 st part of the bible, the book is called Habakkuk.

Now, Habakkuk was a man of faith and a spokesman for God during a really tough time in the history of the nation of Israel. Let me give you a little bit of that history. All throughout the Old Testament the people of Israel were the chosen ones the people that God worked with and blessed and loved. They were the people that God gave victory after victory after victory to and they were, at times a people of great faith and God blessed them for it.

But they were also a people who liked to live in that blessing, but then after a few generations forgot about the God who gave it to them and they were often a rebellious people. And as you read their history as a nation throughout the pages of the Old Testament you see that they just spiralled further and further away from God with every generation regardless of the blessings they received.

Now, Habakkuk writes this book and he’s a key spiritual leader during one of the last and biggest spirals away from God that Israel had. In fact when Habakkuk was written it’s pretty obvious that God’s hand of blessing had been removed from Israel. During the time of Habakkuk, Israel is at war - let me say that clearer – they have lost a few wars and the country is divided and Israel is full of enemies. And really it is now a mere shadow of the great nation it had once been.

During the time of Habakkuk the people are living in poverty and they’re suffering greatly because of all the war around them.

What’s worse is there is a huge army from a neighbouring land that is mounting a future attack against them that will completely destroy the nation and do further harm to the people.

And it’s into this mess that Habakkuk has his conversation with God. It’s with this back drop of war and pain and suffering and famine and injustice that Habakkuk is trying to sort out his view of life and faith and God and essentially the question he asks is, God are you really good?

. . . “Because nothing in my life and nothing in this nation would point me towards that line of thinking . . . God”

Now, let me read you how He starts his conversation with God . . .

How long, O LORD, must I call for help, (but you do not listen?)
How long will I cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife and conflict abounds. O LORD, are you not from everlasting? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up the righteous? Habakkuk 1:2, 3, 12a and 13b (NIV)

Habakkuk is just sitting there going look around me God all I see is pain and suffering and injustice and you are silent.

Are you good God?

And to be honest when you hear God’s response back to his questions it doesn’t make you feel very good, right away at least. You see this book is only 3 chapters long and so God gets right at it.

God says . . . “yes, I’m good Habakkuk, and things are gonna get worse for your nation, things are gonna get way worse because sin in this world is a terrible thing Habakkuk and sometimes good people get hurt because of the evil around them. God just answers back and says, Habakkuk evil is like stain that soaks through this world we live in and all it takes is a little bit of evil spilled here and there just a little bit and evil stains and runs and touches lots of people that aren’t evil.

And so God and Habakkuk have this conversation that goes back and forth on this stuff with Habakkuk saying, “I can’t see your goodness” and then God’s very patient, but clear answers. And at the end of the day 2 things jump out at you from Habakkuk’s talk with God. And 2 things that can help us understand God’s goodness. It becomes very clear as you read this that;

• We cannot base our view of God’s goodness from our single human perspective and vantage point. . .

As Habakkuk was writing Israel was living under the repercussions and consequences of several generations of evil and sin and darkness. They were suffering because of the people that lived before them and God reminds Habakkuk that history has a way of reaping what it sows and if you sow evil somebody is gonna feel that down the road.

And so God reminds him that our single human view - that our human finite perspective is very limited and that to base our view of who God is by the condition of the world we live in at this moment is a pretty narrow vantage point to look from. Does that make sense?

And then the 2 nd thing God says is simply this, . . . He says Habakkuk.

• Be patient – have faith – trust me.

And when you read it you think be patient? Have faith?

People are dying all around him, but God just says, “Habakkkuk I’m good, trust me on that and wait for it” because my goodness always triumphs over evil. And on the surface it seems like one of those nice churchy kinda statements you know those statements that are hard to relate to, but then God says this,

God just gives him a very straightforward answer and says Habakkuk there is some thing about being forced to test the strength of our faith.

“The righteous will live by faith.” Habakkuk 2:4

God says, “Habakkuk your view of life will be determined by only one thing, the size of your faith.” God says, “Habakkuk our destiny will only be determined by this one thing - how alive your faith is during this season of pain and suffering and waiting.”

And in order to understand my goodness God says, “you have to decide if your gonna trust me.” And so this conversation goes full circle and they wrestle back and forth and back and forth.

Life is unfair and God is good. Evil is rampant in this world and God is good. There is pain and suffering and injustice and God is good. And by the end of their wrestling Habakkuk finds his faith. I love how Mark Buchanan describes this kind of living by faith. He says it is this, it’s a . . .

“Faith that rests so utterly in the character of God – in the ultimate goodness of God that you trust Him even when He seems untrustworthy.” Mark Buchanan

For the past 6 months or so I’ve been getting to know a guy named Jerry – and knowing Jerry has changed by life. Jerry and I are in some ways the most unlikely couple of guys to hang out together you could find. Jerry is native – and I’m the whitest guy I know - with a bit of red neck. Jerry is a carpenter and a real handy guy and I can’t fix a thing - my hands don’t work like that. Jerry is shy and reserved and I’m not. I’ve had a pretty good life, good home, good education, good job and Jerry has had a very hard life. And yet God has brought us together and that bringing us together has changed our lives and sparked a friendship. I asked Jerry if he would tell you a bit of his story because I think it really fits in with what we’re talking about today.

Here’s the thing about Jerry that I love the most.

Even after all the darkness and evil that has happened around him and even after all the hard times he has chosen for himself because of all the crap in his life, even after seeing poverty and injustice and racism and abuse and even after seeing his own life spiral out of control in self destructive ways even after all that I have never heard Jerry even once question the goodness of God.

I have never heard Jerry once question the love and grace and faithfulness of God.

And if you ask Jerry how he’s gonna make it in the future he’ll say it’s faith that’s gonna pull him through. And you know what?

People, Jerry’s past is never gonna go away. His addictions may never leave him completely. Even his station in life may not change all that much.

And I would imagine that the darkness is gonna chase him his whole life.

And yet, Jerry trusts God even when God seems untrustworthy. Jerry sees God as He is only good and only loving and only faithful.

Amazing to me.

See folks, I was doing this message this week the right way – talking about good theology and how we’re to approach this subject from a faith perspective. I was doing my job this week, but the answer to the question, is God good has been right in front of me for the past 6 months watching Jerry. When you see Jerry – you’ll see that. There is no question that God is good. There is no question that God is loving and kind and gracious and faithful. No matter what we’re facing in life, God is good and I didn’t need a theologian to point that out to me.

It showed up every day in Jerry’s faith walk and by the way – just in case you’re wondering it showed up in Habakkuk’s faith walk as well.

Listen to how the last few lines of Habakkuk’s conversation with God,

Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NIV)

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.

So folks, I don’t know what you’re facing today and I don’t know what calamity might befall you tomorrow or in the future, but I do know this - I know God is good. Because I’ve seen His goodness tested time and time again in my life – in Jerry’s life – in Habakkuk’s life. And the truth is . . .

God is good – all the time and all the time – God is good . . .

Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NIV)

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.