He is a Good, Good Father!
He really is.
He really, really, really is GOOD.
Many believers will easily profess that God is good. There are songs that sing of His goodness, and catch phrases that we use during services (like God is good, all the time… and all the time, God is good). We say that He is good, and we sing that He is good. But do we really believe that He is good?
There is a problem in the Kingdom – the way we view God is completely mixed up. There are some who that believe God sends sickness and makes us sick. There are some who believe that God makes us poor. There are some who believe God allows bad things to happen to us. There are some who believe that God sends storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other calamities as a means of judgement to the nations. There are some who believe that God’s first response to us is anger, judgement and punishment, not love.
We need to get this straight! Because the way we see God impacts our entire life with Him.
Let’s look at a few things…
Firstly, God is not mad! He is not upset with you. When we view God as angry, we end up feeling like we can never please Him-like we are always failing, and we are never getting things right. When we believe He is mad at us, we believe He will punish us, and cause bad things to happen in our lives. This is absolutely wrong! God loves and cares for you greatly, and He wants you have a great life. The Bible says in John 3:16 that Jesus came because of God’s great love for us. God did and gave everything He could to save you, reach you, heal you, and bless you. God has provided every means possible for you to have a great life through the finished work of the cross.
He is love. He loves you, and He will ALWAYS respond to you in love. He wants to be involved in your life, and to see you live a blessed life. His love for you is so great, you can never be separated from it.
The Bible says in Romans 8:38-39 that
“I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord”
All He has is love for you! That is how He looks at you, and that is how He interacts with you.
Secondly, God does not make us sick! He does not send sickness or disease to test us, to make us stronger, or to give us a testimony. God will never inflict pain on us. He never planned for us to get sick, or to suffer with disease, or to deal with pains and ailments.
Sickness and disease have come because we live in a fallen world. They have come because the enemy only seeks to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). They have come because of our very own choices. Sometimes the things we do brings sickness and disease in our lives (like smoking, doing drugs, excessive eating, excessive alcohol use). They have come because of the consequences of our own action and as a result of the fall.
Here is something to ponder… if God’s plan was for us to be sick, then why did Jesus to pay the price for every sickness and disease? Doesn’t that seem contradictory? If sickness was to be part of our lives, then why didn’t these things appear in the Garden? The Garden of Eden was God’s original plan for humanity – if
His plan involved sickness, then we should have seen it there too.
There are numerous scriptures throughout the Bible that describes the supernatural healing and miraculous power of God (here are a few – Isaiah 53:5, Jeremiah 30:17, Matthew 8:17, James 5:14-15, 1 Peter 2:24). Know this – GOD DOES NOT WANT US TO BE SICK, and sickness is NOT from Him.
Thirdly, God does not send storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other calamities as a means of judgement to the nations. God is not punishing the world, and He is not against any nation on the earth. He is not sending these disasters to hurt or kill anyone. He is not a destroyer – He is the giver of life, and the Creator of this earth and universe.
Many times natural disasters are attributed to God. There are many who believe that God is sovereignly in control of the earth, which means He is choosing and/or sending these catastrophes to the earth. Here is what we need to understand – even though God is sovereign, He has relinquished the dominion of the earth to the hands of mankind. He is completely sovereign over His Kingdom, but not sovereign over the earth. We live in a fallen world, and these things are the consequences of sin.
Remember this – God sent Jesus to save the WHOLE world, not just parts of it. It is His heart that none should perish, but that all would be saved (2 Peter 3:9). God loves humanity, and He wants us all to be saved.
Fourthly, God does not allow bad things to happen in our lives. When God created humanity, He gave us free will. That means WE choose how we live, what we do, how we treat others, and how we think. He is NOT in control of people, or their actions, or their decisions. God allows all of us to freely choose what we will do. If free will was removed, then we would not have any choices – God would be in complete control of everything we do and say, everywhere we go, and how we live. But He wanted us to have the ability to choose for ourselves, so when we serve Him, it is because we chose it.
Bad things happen because people make bad choices. Bad things happen because we live in a fallen world. Bad things happen because of the consequences of sin.
Friends, God is good, period!
Goodness is an inherent and unchanging part of His nature. He is goodness personified, defined, and exhibited, and is forever the standard and measure of what good is.
In 1 John 1:5, the Bible says that “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all”.
In Psalm 119:68, it says that God is good, and what He does is good.
He is ALWAYS in a good mood. Everything about Him is good! Everything about Him is love!
He is a loving Father, and He is madly in love with His children. He wants to best for you, and He will never, nor has He ever, done anything to make your life harder!!!
Know this today – your view of Him determines how you receive from Him. Your view of Him determines how you present Him to others. And your view of Him affects how you relate to Him.
He is a good, good, Father, and He has much more in store for you!
Pastor Christine Hassan