The excerpt below was extracted with permission from Jen Wilkin’s book Renewed, Faithful Editor.
God’s goodness is a light that radiates through all its other attributes, so his omnipotence (possessor of all power), his omniscience (possessor of all knowledge) and his sovereignty (possessor of all control) are more comfort than terror. why we can dare to believe that he is capable of doing everything for our sake, as he said (Rom. 8. 28). Right now, there are many things we have seen or endured that are clearly not good, but under the sovereign rule of an eternally good God, we can trust that everything that is not good now, in the end, will be used for our good as Joseph, one day (in this life or in the future) we will see our difficult past and recognize that what our enemies wanted to do wrong , God used it for our good (Genesis 50:20).
- Do we experience God’s goodness in thousands of graces in our daily lives?each of us.
- Lost or saved; big or small.
- No.
- Not everything is good right now.
- But there are many.
- If we take the time to observe.
- Have you ever noticed that the design is not only functional.
- But also beautiful?Our five senses confirm that God did more than create a utilitarian ecosystem for his creatures.
- This not only gives us vision.
- But also perception of color.
- Depth and contrast.
- It not only gives us the sense of touch.
- But also smoothness and roughness.
- Smoothness and roughness.
- Heat and cold.
- Our sense of taste knows a thousand flavors; our ear.
- A thousand sounds and melodies.
- Timbres and volumes; smell.
- A thousand perfumes.
- Aromas and smells.
God may have created a very dull creation and much more boring creatures to populate it, but in his goodness he formed and filled the world with color, cacophony, horn of abundance. Anyone who has ever passed through a gardenia bush at dusk knows God’s fragrant goodness. Anyone who has ever stopped to see the sunrise; who has already calmed down to the singing of a bird; who has already cried with his harmony; who once played with a raspberry on his tongue; who has already rejoiced walking barefoot on the dew-laden grass or marveling at the symmetry of a web; all these people recognize that the goodness around us is spreading everywhere. We have a lot of diamonds on display to harvest. In this turn, we almost stumbled upon this lush nature, even in our fallen world.
Perhaps we cannot marvel at the fact that the traces of a very good creation endure, even when nature groans at its fragmentation. But we marvel at the fact that, even in our rebellious state, God’s goodness continues to touch us in thousands of circumstances. He gives us daily bread and many times much more, although we are used to complaining about what we don’t have, instead of settling for what he has given us. He gives us the joy of having family and friends, although we are more likely to complain about him because of difficult relationships, rather than thanking ourselves for being loving. He gives us, in general, more days of joy than sadness, although our darkened hearts are more likely to curse him than bless him on happy days. And although he had every right to restrain his goodness with the fiery sword of the cherubs at the eastern exit of Eden, he decided that his goodness would accompany Adam and Eve during all the days of their lives, even after their expulsion. yard. And He does it for every son of Adam and for every daughter of Eve, even today.
Think, therefore, with renewed interest, of the angel’s words to the shepherds who cared for their flocks in the nightly vigil: “Fear not; Behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be for all the people. (Lk 2. 10). It’s not just any news, it’s good news. Angels descending to the dark night of the fields of Judea, burdened with the word of God’s goodness: Fear not, for it was God who spoke in the darkness of Genesis 1 and begins again. That’s good news. Goodwill. And the light shone in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it.
The good news was the perfect description that angelic heralds had to use, because nowhere was God’s goodness more clearly demonstrated than when God sent His Son. Titus 3. 4-5 tells us:
However, when God’s goodness of heart, our Savior, and his love for all manifested themselves, not through works of righteousness that we practice, but according to His mercy, he saved us through the regenerating and renewing washing of the Holy Ghost.
James 1:17 tells us that “every good gift and every perfect gift comes from on high, a descendant of the Father of lights, in whom there can be no variation or shadow of change. “Christ’s gift, good and perfect, surpasses all others. kindness we can know.
This Father of Lights, who sent the Light of Christ into the world, did this to enlighten the hearts of his children, one after the other. Christ radiates perfect goodness in perfect obedience to the Father, in favor of the lost. Christ radiates God’s goodness, we must reflect it, as he says, this goodness must be evident in our lives.