God's Goodness

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Psalm 27:13-14

We’ve all had one of those days, weeks, years or even longer seasons. Our circumstances feel overwhelming. We are weary. It seems like all we can see is the bad or hurtful things. We want to give up or give in to anger, depression or fear. We cry to God looking for help.

This is the place David wrote from in Psalm 27. Although he details his circumstances which involved his enemies assailing him, he started the Psalm with who God is. It shaped the rest of the Psalm including verses 13 and 14 that are our focus today. He affirmed that God was his light and his salvation; whom should he fear? God was the stronghold of his life.

If you read last week’s devotional, maybe you did the exercise of writing out the attributes of God – “God is…”. If you have time, I encourage you to read all of Psalm 27 and do that again because it helps us see how David could say in verse 13, “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!” Despite the seemingly overwhelming circumstances, David could have hope because he knew who his God was.

I’ve had a couple rough days. Maybe you have too. I have my own situation, but also two friends diagnosed with cancer and a third with possible cancer. Cancer and other health issues can feel overwhelming. It is often hard not to look at all the “what ifs”. Another friend hit black ice this past weekend. His car went into a spin, and he hit the divider. The car that he had just invested money to fix is totaled. When you lose your vehicle, don’t know how you can replace it or even get to work, life can look dark and hopeless. These feelings can be magnified when you have been seeking God and trying to glorify Him and hard things still come. Grief can also feel overwhelming and brings many changes all at once.

So, what do we do when we find ourselves feeling overwhelmed by our circumstances?

1. Remember who God is and what He has already done. Just a few characteristics of God from Psalm 27 are: light, salvation, stronghold, beautiful, shelter, lifter, gracious, helper, welcoming, teacher, leader and good. I have been reading and re-reading Psalm 27 the past several days.

2. Trust who God is. David was looking to God. He knew God personally. Therefore, he believed that he would see God’s goodness in the land of the living. He could be expectant and have hope.

3. Look for God’s goodness. We tend to see only the bad and hurtful or as my niece just told me, the clouds that are so big and dark, but God’s goodness and grace is there too. Write down what you are thankful for whether in your specific situation or other areas of your life. Those reminders of God’s goodness help us have hope and keep waiting for the Lord.

Yesterday when I felt discouraged, I looked out our window and saw the neighbor boy shoveling our driveway just to be nice (and we have a BIG driveway). Today brought some good news of a long-awaited finished project and a picture of two smiling faces that I love. God is good all the time. As we trust God, we will see that goodness all around us.

4. Wait for God. His timing is not ours, but His timing is perfect. We want resolution right now, but that often isn’t how God works. We are refined in the waiting as we trust God. When we reflect on who God is and what He has done, we are strengthened and have courage to keep waiting for God.

5. Remember your eternal hope. David had hope that he would see God’s goodness in the land of the living, in this life, but we also have eternal hope. This life, this big, dark cloud we are under, is not all that there is. We will one day experience God’s perfect, lavish goodness in all its fullness for all of eternity.

As I think about my niece’s description of a big, dark cloud, I know that even if I can’t see it behind the cloud, the sun is there. It’s still shining. Right now, you or I may only see the darkness of our circumstances, but our unchanging, faithful, good God is still there. He never leaves or forsakes us. He has not ceased working His good plan to conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-29). “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”