I like good food, fresh baked bread with butter that is melting or rich chocolate cake with creamy frosting. The bite of pudding that causes you to lick the fork and have another bite. Good tasting food is a delight. The food that after eating you think about and remember how it tasted that is good food.

Then there are the  times when I create dinner from whatever we find in the refrigerator and it tastes like it was all the things we discovered and needed to eat. Those are not the meals we remember. That meal might have given nourishment but it was not full of pleasure. It would be a stretch to say it was good.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!  Psalm 34:8

Have you tasted and seen that God is good? Can you say that God is good? Can you say that God is good to you?

Do you allow God to define good or do you try to write the definition? God’s good might take us through some difficult and hard things because he wants to show us his goodness. We might not see that unless we went through those times.

What is good?

I have a list of things that I consider good. The books on my list of good books might be different from what is on your list. My daughter considers shrimp good but others do not. We judge and decide what is good. The quick list of good things is filled with things I like, pleasant things, easy things but as I sit and think a bit more about good things I also list some things that are hard and difficult.

Why do I list hard and difficult things on a list of good things? It is in those times that I really see God’s goodness.

There was a situation that we were in and honestly I had no idea how I would survive. It was horrible. It was hard. At just the time that we needed it, God worked and moved us out of the situation. God’s timing was good. If I didn’t have the difficult situation, I might not have seen how perfect God’s timing is.

Living Good

God is good. It is who he is. So if we are to be reflecting God and his goodness in our lives? How do we do that?

Believe that God is good and what he does is for our good.

Speak of God’s goodness to others. When you share the hard bits and stories of your life, share how God worked good. Give God the glory and praise.

Do good to others. How can you serve others and do good? It might be giving of your abundance to someone in need. It might be something simple like a glass of water. This is not just to those we like but also to our enemies. (Luke 6:35)

Journaling Questions

Here are some questions for you to ponder. Take some time and look in your life and reflect on God and his goodness.

What are some areas where you have seen God’s goodness in your own life?

Do you see how God has worked good in your life?

What are some areas in your life that you struggle to say God is good? Look at those areas. How do you see God working? What is God teaching you about himself and his goodness? How can you learn to say that God is good even in those area?

This is a bit of a rambling post about God’s goodness but I trust that it will encourage you today. More on the topic of good and goodness can be found here.