Lifting the Haze--Exploring God's Goodness

“Isn’t God good?” He didn’t wait for an answer before continuing with how God had answered his prayer—the way he wanted God to.

Yes, God is good. But those kinds of interactions leave me uncomfortable. It seems God’s character gets hinged to someone’s limited perspective of their comfort or health or prosperity.

I gave a lot of thought to the subject of God’s goodness and eventually created a photo gift book on the topic. That was five years ago.

A couple weeks ago I gave my last copy of God’s Goodness: seen most clearly through hard times to a friend. As I browsed the pages before wrapping the book, I decided to share its content on my blog. (The book was never for sale, but I may re-work it someday to make it available to the public.)

This first selection is from the introduction.

God’s Goodness: seen most clearly through hard times

On July 5, 2015, we stood on the shore of Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park. All we could see were mountains shrouded in thick haze caused by wildfires from the day before in Canada. We could only imagine how magnificent the view usually looked.

Likewise, the concept of God's goodness may become obscured. For instance, is God good when He answers a prayer the way we want Him to? Certainly. But is He good when the answer is not what we want, and we are left in a pain filled place?

Perhaps we don't treasure the things God treasures. I am more invested in my comfort than becoming spiritually mature, and that creates a dilemma. God loves us too much to sacrifice our sanctification for our comfort. When we seek God's purposes and align our will with His, I believe the haze will lift, revealing God's goodness more clearly, even in the hard times.

Exploring God's goodness with you.

Lynelle Watford