Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. Psalm 73:1
Psalm 73 is an interesting composition ascribe to the chief musician Asaph. He opens his expressions confidently declaring that God is Good to his people. He would have recall the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage, their success at the hands of Canaan nations and even perhaps in his personal life stories of God’s goodness. However, in verse 2 , we realize something had almost cause him to loose his foothold on this thought.
We most times easily associate and remember the goodness of God when times are good however sometimes when confronted with hurt, pain, troubles and trials, without the proper mindset we can give unwarranted focus to these elements and become discouraged. Our faith is challenged! When we look at evil doers oppression, injustice, corruption & their prosperity in light of one’s present troubles we only see an exaggerated view presented by the devil! Therefore, it’s important while we have good times to build up the substance of our faith for challenging times that may come.
The reality is in tragic circumstances it is difficult to find answers that we can appreciate. These situations become dark clouds on the rays of God‘s Goodness in our present life and suddenly our life becomes an overcast day.
- The widow that lost her only son
- The mother whose child has leukemia
- The grandmother who lost her son, his wife, and her grand kids in an accident
- The school principal who must now attend a mass funeral for the class gun down by a senseless gunman.
Wrong words shared to persons in grief as they question “Why?” can lead to further dismay.
Jesus’ disciples wondered if the man born blind was a result of his sin’s or his parent’s but Jesus advised it was that the work of God might be displayed in him (John 9:2-3)
Job’s miserable comforters wrongly insinuated it must have been sin while Job was being “punished” (Job 4:7, 22:15). This also was not specifically revealed as a case of God sending a lesson for Job to learn (Job 1-2)
There are numerous reasons for why things are the way they are. Others include:
Natural progression of Life and bearing the consequences of actions taken (Global warming, Food we eat, Noise & Air Pollution, decision taken all have it’s effects)
Also because of our free-will to choose evil or good, Evil exists in the world and the actions of evil doers strive in this evil world.
There are no solid answers for why any one event happens. We can only listen as one grieve and remain focus on what’s ahead in God‘s promises. At these times it is hard to explain away the reasons for any difficult situation and perhaps not the best approach to take but just to listen and support in tangible ways (giving a gift basket, being around to help with physical work, a shoulder to cry on etc).
The question of “Where is God?” becomes more difficult when God‘s people are not shining God‘s light in this dark world. (Matt 5:16)
God is in God‘s people and the world needs to see & hear more about our testimonies of God‘s Goodness and his love and his wonderful works manifested in our lives to have hope. We are ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 4: 6-7). If we are not walking in the light the world will not see God but will see darkness because we’re not being a reflection of God‘s light and therefore hope becomes stifled.
Again this is a reminder that we need to build up our faith and the faith of others, in preparation for difficult times so that if our spiritual eyes become shifted, we will have the spirit of God working within us to realign our thoughts.
Illustration References:
- Peter shifted his eyes from who gave him the power to walk on water in the first place. He allowed the sound of the wind & rushing waves to lose his focus of who controls them and he began to sink (Matt 14: 22-23). Be careful of where you look.
- David when Kings should be at war was in a position to see and lust after what was not his which led to sin (2 Sam. 11). Be careful of where you place yourself.
- Asaph as he looked lifestyle of the wicked encountered three things that wear down one’s faith. Be careful of what you meditate on.
- Coveting the passing pleasures of sin (Psalm 73:3)
- Concern about people ridicule of your faith (Psalm 73:8-11)
- Comparing the temporary state of wicked to one’s troubles (Psalm 73:13-14)
Because Asaph had built up his faith in God, he was able to realign his thoughts (Psalm 73:17). It’s when we are based in or return focus to God‘s word we will have the right perspective at life as Asaph did. He recognized how senseless (vs 22) he was and concluded the best place to be was near God (vs 28)
Focus is important and the devil tries to shift our focus and placed us where our faith will be worn down.
God is good in his goodness because:
- His Loves endures forever (Psalm 136:1, John 3:16)
- His grace & mercy saves us (Rom. 5:6-8, Eph. 2:7-9)
- He give us the strength & protection needed in times of trouble (Nahum 1:7)
- He cares for us (Matt 6:26, Luke 12:24, 2 Pet 3:9)
As one person said with the right perspective we can see the Past as experience, Present as experiment and Future as expectation. Use your experience in your experiments to achieve God‘s expectations.
Remain focus in the safe haven of God. God is Good ALL THE TIME!
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. – Rom 8:18