Abundant goodness is at the core of Who God is, and how He is... all the time.
. . . what do we really mean?
Really.
I caught myself thinking about that this morning, when I greeted SJ: "You're awake!" I said. "God has been really good to us!"
But as I knelt beside his bed to pray with him, I wondered why proclamations about God's goodness fail to roll off my tongue with such alacrity in less-than-stellar moments. Hmmm...
If one (or all) of us had fallen asleep last night to await the Resurrection, would God have been less than really good?
When we say God is good, do we understand it as referencing the very essence of Who He is? Or are we really referring to how He is... sometimes?
Do we - for all practical intents and purposes - believe that He is good, really good, all the time?
We know He says that He is overflowing in goodness:
"And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin..." (Exodus 34:6-7)
But in our daily lives, do we make a practice - by His grace - of resting in that knowledge even when the heavens seem about to shatter and fall? And when they do?
The Almighty God does not change (Malachi 3:6). He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Abundant goodness is at the core of Who God is, and how He is... all the time.
Whether He ordains or He allows... it is all good, because He will be faithful to walk closely with us through every storm if only we would take His hand.
Today, may we seek - by God's grace - to proclaim his abundant goodness, even in the face of our storms.
Our loving Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for Your abundant goodness to us. We are truly thankful for every sunshine-y day and every storm that You have walked us through, and we ask that You will empower us to proclaim Your overflowing goodness to us... even in the dark times. Soften and subdue our hearts, so that we may hear and heed the promptings of your Holy Spirit... today and always. Amen.
