Not Your Fairy Godfather 

“G

ood” is one of those wonderful bursting with fullness words, that through common use is rendered to translate more like “nice”. What an anathema! The kind of Goodness I’m speaking about intrinsically involves both character and behaviours that come from only one source.

There’s a notion in Western thinking of a ‘Good God’ being like a fairy Godfather, who supposedly gives the good stuff to people who obey an endless set of rules. Someone you probably wouldn’t turn to unless you were really desperate and you needed to “hedge your bets”. That ‘disneyoid’ delusion is not Him.

No one is good….except God

When the Bible speaks of God’s Goodness, it speaks of perfect purity, excellent and complete goodness. It alludes to justice, righteousness, holiness, purity, gentleness, and kindness all at once.  Jesus himself said when responding to the rich young ruler in Luke 18:19 “Why do you call me good? No one is good – except God.” No rational word adequately describes such epitome of perfection.

Challenging God’s Goodness

Just as there is a personified Goodness, there is a personified evil at work in this world too. Satan was the one, back in the garden of Eden, who interfered with the uninterrupted wonderful relationship Adam and Eve had with God, by offering them a challenge…. to God’s Goodness. Satan suggested that God only wanted to keep something Good from Adam and Eve, and Eve chose to believe that lie, Adam went along with it. Evil took hold of man at the point he was prepared to believe that God was capable of not being Good!

Satan’s tactics have not changed much. When I talk with people who don’t know much about God, it seems that they very easily buy the notion that God would “do this” or “stop that” if he really was Good. And for those of us who are Christian, if you think about it, every challenge you face in your life, ultimately comes down to a challenge to His goodness. “has God really said….?”

Promise is the language of Goodness

We discover his goodness in his promises to us. 2 Corinthians 1:20 tells us that all of the many promises God has made to us are ours to receive by faith which is a testament to his Goodness. As Christians, as we get to walk in his Goodness, doing the good works he’s purposed and planned for us (Eph 2:10), this, in turn, verifies his Goodness to the world and fill us with satisfaction and joy. The challenge to His Goodness comes just like in Eden when Satan suggests that the promise will not be fulfilled for whatever plausible reason he finds will appeal to us.

Once upon a time…

When I was a single mum, I remember praying for a husband. According to his promises, I could ask for whatever I wanted and it would be given to me. (Matthew 21:22) Hard to believe that when you feel unworthy. So the first challenge to his Goodness was to believe that He really meant that for me. Would I ever ‘qualify’? What if I was somehow unwittingly not doing something I should, or doing something I shouldn’t? just like Eden ”Did God really say….?”  Rationally, how could he possibly find me the caliber of man I’d prayed for in the tiny town I’d chosen to live in? Not much chance really. If such a man existed, what would be the chances of him wanting to take on a single mum? All these thoughts are challenges simply to God’s Goodness as reflected in his promises. In this instance, I believed. Sure enough, in a tiny town, Mr. Wonderful emerged and loved me and married me. We’ve been married 32 years now, and I call him my “new every morning blessing” because he really is.

Apply it, Own it

Taste and see…God is good.