I remember sitting on wooden pews in my grandfather’s church.  I think people rarely stand up and give their testimonies anymore…but that’s what we did 20-some odd years ago in our small town country church.

I would listen as Brother so & so, or Sister so & so (because that’s how the church family addressed one another) would proclaim the goodness of God.  Always because prayers were answered.

I can’t seem to recall a time though, when an elder would hold the microphone, opposite hand raised in the air, and testify with bad news.  “We’ve prayed for a miraculous healing for years and she’s still sick!  Praise God!”  Or…”I didn’t get the job!  Hallelujah!”

Right?  Because we almost always hear about His faithfulness when things work out the way we hoped…prayed…believed…

And so I wonder.  Have we become a culture that praises God when it’s good, and curses God when it’s bad?  Culture aside, I think I’ve fit into that mold a time or twelve.

Doesn’t faith come naturally when our Father gives us what we ask for?  “Of course He’s good-look what He’s given me!”  Except…I’ve found most often that life is the exact opposite.  Here-in lies the question of true faith.

For true faith stirs up trust.  And not just any trust.  It’s trust in spite of.  The even though trust.  Hurts like hell trust.

Undeniably, there is a wrestle.  And it’s ok to talk about it.  Versus the theology I was taught as a child, that God should never be questioned.  Well-and I know I’ve said this before-but I believe a good Father welcomes the questions of His children.  Doesn’t mean He’ll answer them…but I believe He listens without condemnation.

So, we know God holds the power to do anything-so why doesn’t He do ‘it?’  Whatever ‘it’ is for me/you.  A spouse…healing…salvation of a loved one…the right job.  Good and holy gifts that could alter the courses of our lives forever.

Why doesn’t He do it then?  And is He still good if not?

I, myself have sat (currently sitting) in really desperate places.  Pleading, begging, tears soaking my pillowcase at night…

I’ve held grieving mothers as they wept over tiny caskets…

And the violence of our world…oh, the violence.  Needless violence…

Where is the testimony in all of this?  As that old church saying goes, is God really good all the time?

Well, my friends, I believe that He is.  And I believe the testimony is His presence.

Of course we don’t have explanations for suffering, disease, loneliness, etc.  Except that we live in a very unfair and unjust world.  Sometimes I think it would be easier if we just knew the purpose behind and beyond.  This side of Heaven doesn’t always afford us the privilege of that knowledge.  Unfortunately.

There are a hundred Christian clichés I could type into this next paragraph…even scriptures about how “He works everything together for good.”

But I won’t.

There are some things we just cannot understand.  And that messes with the part of us that wants to know, “why me?  why them?  why not?”  All fair in my humble opinion.

But dear reader, He IS good.

He isn’t good because He gives us what we ask for.  He’s good because He gives us Himself.

How could we ever begin to imagine life without His love, His peace, His grace, His comfort?  Because He is a package deal, you know.  We have God and all He has is ours.  He is the embodiment of that which our souls crave.  He is our lifeline.  The air we breathe.

So yes….He is good.  And dare I say, He is good no matter what.