"The Lord is GOOD, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him." (Nahum 1:7)
Human Beings are born sinners and some try to become good. Some work hard at being good. It is not so with God. Goodness comes natural to God. He is good. He does not have to work at it.
God's goodness is made visible in what He does for His people. In the passage above the goodness of the Lord is noted for His protecting His people and knowing those who trust Him. God's goodness is not just a theological fact but it is something that can be personally experienced.
Most people including sinners believe that God is good.
God is too good to send people to hell. He demonstrates His goodness by sending His only begotten Son to die on the cross (John 3:5-18; Rom. 5:6-8). Out of His goodness He gives each man the choice to either accept or reject His Son. After all, He is too good to force a decision on anyone.
Unfortunately, many reject the provision that Jesus Christ made on the cross for us and sends themselves to hell (John 3:18). Unfortunately, these people never experience God's goodness even though it is made available to them.
The Bible shows us that it is the goodness of God that leads one to repentance:
"Or dispiseth thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance." (Rom. 2:4)
Most people turn to God, not because of fear of punishment, but because they find out that He is the only solution to their problems.
There are some in the Body of Christ who seem to think that once they are in the kingdom God for some reason withdraws His goodness. They seem to think He puts them through tragedy, sickness, pain, poverty, temptations, and a multitude of trials to either chasten them or strengthen them. Such thinking comes from the EVIL one - Satan.
God's goodness is bestowed on every sinner by giving them a provision for their sin through Jesus Christ. Once we have come into the kingdom of God He does not give us less of His goodness. He bestows upon us even more. He actually stores up goodness for His people:
"How great is your GOODNESS! You have stored it up for those who fear you. You do GOOD THINGS for those who TRUST you. You do this for all to see." (Ps. 31:19; The Everyday Bible).
We repeat here that God's goodness is not just a theological fact. It is something that is to be experienced. It is demonstrated by what He DOES for those who trust Him. The requirement is that you must TRUST Him. If you have not been experiencing the goodness of God in your life then this may be an area that certainly needs your attention.
The reason for these lessons is to build your trust and confidence in God concerning His goodness. Many people are not experiencing God's goodness for lack of trust. There are various reasons why they do not trust God, but all of these reasons arise from the pit of hell and must be dealt with.
If you are not experiencing the goodness of God it is not because He has run out of it, withdrawn it, or is holding it back. He has it stored up for you. It is up to each individual to appropriate it for themselves.
The main reason many do not experience God's goodness is because they have no real revelation of it. They have sat in church and heard people say that God is good. Yet, in the same church they will hear that God allows sickness, pain, and misery to come into our lives to prepare us for glory. They will hear that God took their little baby or their little child because He wanted a little flower in heaven.
People hear such nonsense in the church and wonder how could God truly be good. Everything that they hear about God in religious circles contradicts what their understanding of good is. We attach religious explanations to it such as "God works in mysterious ways" or "God knows what is best for us."
If preachers would preach the Bible more often and Christians would learn to study the Bible for themselves instead of taking the word of the preacher or their denominational creed then most of us would begin to have a better conception of God's goodness.
In Psalms 107, we are told to give praise to God for His goodness. The Psalm tells of several acts performed by God that demonstrates His goodness towards men. Psalm 107:1 starts off like this:
"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good: for his mercy endureth forever."
Then it goes on to talk about God's redemption of His people and His acts of deliverance in trouble. Then verses 8 and 9 go on to say this:
"Oh that men would praise the Lord for his GOODNESS, and his wonderful works to the children of men. For he satisfieth the hungry soul with goodness."
This statement is made four times in this Psalm. It speaks of God's goodness in His delivering people from bondage, healing, protection, and provision.
In verse one the Psalmist tells us that God is good. In verse eight, fifteen, twenty-one, and thirty-one, we are told about His goodness. God is able to extend His goodness towards the children of men because He IS good. A person always acts according to their nature. God is naturally good and His purpose for creating man was to have someone to demonstrate His goodness too.
The Bible tells us of the goodness of God. Religion has a totally different concept of God's goodness than the Bible. Psalm 107 goes into detail about exactly what His goodness is and how it is demonstrated. The last verse in this Psalm tells us:
"Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord." (Ps. 107:43)
It would be wise to observe what the BIBLE says about God's goodness and not what tradition and religion has said. The reason many do not understand the lovingkindness of God is because they have not observed His acts of goodness towards the children of men. They know that God is supposed to be loving and kind, but few can ever truly say that they consistently experience it. God does not want us to have a theological knowledge of Him. He wants us to EXPERIENCE Him.
The Word of God is written for our benefit. It is written to give us revelation and insight into God's true nature and dealings with men. Its primary purpose is to build our faith in God and not to run us away from Him. Religion and tradition have run many people away from God, but the truth of God's Word has broken bondages and has drawn people TO the true and living God.
If you desire to experience God's goodness in your life you will have to search out, mediate upon, and claim His promises. The Bible tells us that God's promises are good:
"Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant." (1 Kings 8:56)
"Not one of all the Lord's good promises to the house of Israel failed; every every one was fulfilled." (Josh. 21:45; NIV).You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed." (Josh. 23:14; NIV).
God's promises do not fail because God Himself will not fail. If there is any failure in receiving any of God's promises then the failure is on our part, not God's. God does not go back on His promises. He is good so naturally His Word is good:
"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it GOOD?" (Num. 23:19)
There was a time when a man's word was his bond. Nowadays, people will make and break promises without thinking twice about it. "Promises are made to be broken." I have heard some say. This is MAN'S philosophy. This did not originate from God.
That is why God tells us not to compare Him to a man. "He is not a man that He should lie." Lying comes natural to man. God will never do that. If He has spoken a promise He will make it good because He is good. He will do what He said He would do.
Whenever you find a promise from God it should strengthen your faith. It should give you the confidence to know that whatever God says will come to pass in your own personal life.
Yet Satan has fed the church several lies that hinder God's people from claiming and receiving all that He has made available to them. These lies have been taught from the pulpits of many churches. Satan is never more dangerous than when he is able to get into the pulpit. It is there that he is able to do his greatest damage to the church.
In order to restore faith in the TRUTH concerning God's goodness we must find out what God's Word says. God's Word is truth (John 17:17) and Satan is a liar (John 8:44). Anything that contradicts God's Word comes from the pit of hell and is to be discarded as such.
These errors keep God's people in bondage and keep them from experiencing the fullness of God's goodness that has been stored up for them. It is the truth of God's Word that will make us completely free (John 8:31-32).
Things can be stored up for a long time and never be claimed. It is not the fault of God since He has made it available to us. It is our fault for not knowing the truth about what belongs to us when knowledge is made available to us.