God Is Good Even When the World Is Not

God is good.
God is good to me.
God is good at being God.

I wrote those three sentences in my journal this week, and I kept coming back to that last one. God is good at being God.

Last year, I wrote about God is good at being God and what those words taught me about trusting God when I don’t understand His plans. But lately, I’ve been thinking about that phrase from a different angle.

What happens when the world around us looks anything but good?

Turn on the television or scroll through the news, and you’ll see wars, fires, floods, violence, sickness, hatred, and people doing horrible things to one another. If we aren’t careful, we can spend so much time focusing on everything that is wrong that we begin questioning the One who is good.

Why did God do this? Why did God let this happen? Why is God doing this to us?

That is where I think we can get confused.

God Did Not Create the World This Way

When God created the world, He didn’t create it filled with hatred, disease, destruction, and evil. Genesis tells us that when God looked at everything He had made, it was very good.

Genesis 1:31 (NIV)
³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Then came Genesis 3. The serpent planted doubt in Eve’s mind about God and His goodness.

Did God really say…?

Genesis 3:1-6 (NIV)
¹Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Adam and Eve chose disobedience, and sin entered the world. With sin came death, pain, brokenness, and separation from God.

This isn’t the world as God originally created it. We live in a world damaged by sin.

We Have an Enemy Who Wants Us to Blame God

Scripture also tells us something we sometimes forget: we have an enemy.

1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)
⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Satan isn’t God’s equal. God is Creator; Satan is created. God is all-powerful; Satan is limited. And Satan’s ultimate defeat is already certain.

But Scripture makes it clear that the enemy is active in this fallen world. Jesus described his agenda this way:

John 10:10 (NIV)
¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

Yet when something terrible happens, God often gets blamed first. We ask, “God, why are You doing this to us?”

Think about how effective that is for the enemy. He doesn’t even have to convince us that God doesn’t exist if he can convince us that God isn’t good.

That is essentially what Satan did in the Garden. He planted doubt about God’s character, and I think those same whispers still come today.

If God loved you, why did He allow this? If God were good, wouldn’t He stop it? Can you really trust Him?

We do need to be careful here. Not every tragedy should be described as something Satan personally caused. We live in a fallen creation. People have free will and sometimes choose evil. Our bodies get sick. Natural disasters happen. Sin has consequences.

There are things we simply won’t understand this side of Heaven. But not understanding suffering does not change God’s character.

God is still good.

God Never Promised Us a Trouble-Free World

Jesus was very clear about this.

John 16:33 (NIV)
³³ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

He said that in this world we will have trouble. Not might. Would. That probably isn’t anyone’s favorite promise to embroider on a pillow. Lol.

But Jesus didn’t stop there. He told us to take heart because He has overcome the world. Our faith isn’t built on the promise that nothing bad will ever happen. Our faith is built on knowing God will be with us when it does.

There is a huge difference.

The Cross Tells Me God Is Good

There are plenty of things I don’t understand. I don’t know why one person is healed and another isn’t. I don’t know why one family experiences tragedy while another seems untouched. And I don’t always understand why God intervenes in ways we can clearly see in one situation and seems silent in another.

But I don’t have to understand everything God does to know who God is. When I start questioning His goodness, I need to look at Jesus. Mankind rebelled against God, and God could have left us in the mess we created.

Instead, He came after us.

John 3:16 (NIV)
¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus entered this broken world. He experienced grief, rejection, betrayal, pain, and death. Then He went to the cross for us.

That does not sound like a God who is indifferent to our suffering. That sounds like a God who loves us enough to enter into our suffering to save us.

So when the enemy whispers, God doesn’t care about you, I can look at the cross.
When he whispers, God isn’t good, I can look at the cross.
When he whispers, God has abandoned you, I can look at the cross.

Be Careful What You Focus On

I wrote recently about how what we seek is often what we begin to see, and I think that applies here too.

If I spend hours watching bad news, reading angry comments, and focusing on everything that is wrong with the world, I shouldn’t be surprised when everything begins to feel hopeless.

That doesn’t mean we ignore suffering. Christians should care deeply about people who are hurting. But the evening news is showing us the brokenness of a fallen world. It isn’t showing us the entire story.

God is still working. People are still coming to Christ. Prayers are being answered. Families are being restored. People are forgiving each other. Churches are feeding hungry families. Strangers are helping strangers.

Every day, even in this broken world, the goodness of God is still breaking through.

Don’t Let Bad News Change What You Know About God

Maybe that is what I needed to remind myself of when I wrote those words in my journal.

The world is loud. Fear is loud. Bad news is loud. And the enemy is very good at whispering doubts into our minds when we are frightened.

But truth doesn’t change because something else is louder.

Maybe you’re facing something right now that doesn’t feel good at all. You might be watching someone you love suffer, or you may be worried about our country, your family, your health, or the future.

This is where faith becomes more than words.

I don’t understand everything, but I trust God.
I don’t know why this happened, but I know His character.
I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know God will be there.

And I know this:

God is good.
God is good to me.
God is good at being God.

The world may be broken, sin may have consequences, people may choose evil, and the enemy may be active. But none of those things changes who God is.

The Devil Does Not Get the Final Word

One day, all of this will change.

Revelation 21:4 (NIV)
⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

There will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain. Satan doesn’t win. Sin doesn’t win. Death doesn’t win. Fear doesn’t win.

God does.

So the next time the news makes me wonder what in the world is happening, I want to remember where this story started and where it ends.

It started with a good God. And it ends with a good God. Everything in between may not make sense to me.

Thankfully, God is good at being God.

To GOD Goes The Glory!

Have A Blessed Day!

Let’s End With A Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for being good, even when the world around us is not. Forgive us for the times we have looked at the brokenness caused by sin and evil and questioned Your goodness.

Lord, help us recognize the lies of the enemy. When fear tells us You have abandoned us, remind us of Your presence. When doubt tells us You don’t care, remind us of the cross. And when we don’t understand why something has happened, give us the faith to trust Your character even when we cannot understand Your plan.

Guard our hearts and minds from fear, anger, bitterness, and despair. Help us spend less time focusing on darkness and more time looking for the ways You are still working all around us.

Use us, Lord, to bring some of Your goodness into this broken world. Help us comfort those who hurt, encourage those who are afraid, love those who feel forgotten, and point others toward Jesus.

Thank You for loving us enough to send Your Son and for promising that one day You will make all things new.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.