Why do you believe God is good? I have met people who don’t think He is. And they have reasons for it too. They look at the suffering and pain they’ve experienced or see in the world, add a few logical concerns, then conclude the sovereign God who created this whole show can’t be totally good. The evidence seems to show a dark side to His personality.
We all have reasons for our conclusions, of course. But if those reasons are proven wrong or the evidence inappropriate, what then? Until the middle of the 17th century many people believed in ’spontaneous generation’. For example, a recipe for the spontaneous production of mice required placing sweaty underwear and husks of wheat in an open-mouthed jar, then waiting for about 21 days, during which time it was alleged the sweat from the underwear would penetrate the husks of wheat, changing them into mice! People don’t believe in ’spontaneous generation’ any more because the reasons for doing so have been dispelled by science. The ‘evidence’ was real but inappropriate. Use the wrong reasons to establish a certain belief and eventually it will come crashing down.
Believing that God is totally good is as fundamental as believing He exists. We need to believe in the complete goodness of God otherwise there’s no hope for eternity. What kind of future do we have if the God who put this world together isn’t consistently good?
The Western world has been heavily influenced by materialism. Unfortunately the church is no exception. In the Western Church God’s goodness seems to be mostly derived from blessings; what God does and will do for us. Perhaps our prosperity has forced us to think like that. We’ve had it so good materially. For years I’ve heard people testify God is good because: ‘We were blessed financially’, ‘He healed my uncle’, ‘He saved my son’, ‘I got this new car’, ‘We prayed for and received a miracle’. I’m not saying those examples don’t demonstrate goodness. They are real evidence, but they are not appropriate reasons for securing our belief that God is totally good.
Let’s be brutally honest, and look at the way things really are and not the way we pretend them to be. We live in a broken, sinful world. For every person healed there are more who aren’t. Just ask Joni Eareckson Tada (she became a quadriplegic from a diving accident; her testimony will inspire your faith). Not everyone gets saved, and that includes people we prayed for (’For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few’ - Matthew 7:14). For every person who experiences financial blessing there are many more who don’t. Just ask the persecuted church. Prosperity preaching isn’t so popular where they come from.
By now you may be thinking, ‘Yeah, but those results would be different if we had more faith and claimed our inheritance!’ I don’t buy that. I know what it’s like to have a family member dying in hospital and done all the rebuking, binding and believing one can muster only to have a well-meaning but foolish Christian walk in and say, ‘Why are you letting the devil do this, where’s your faith?’
When our belief in God’s goodness is based on things He does or does not do, like blessings, miracles, healings and so on, He will appear inconsistent. If God is inconsistent then He can’t be completely good. We need to realise the things that happen in life (good or bad) neither prove nor disprove God’s goodness. God’s goodness is based on something more solid and consistent than miracles, blessings or acts of kindness. God is totally good for one rock-solid reason: He said so. And He doesn’t lie. Our belief is based on His word. ‘Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way’ (Psalm 25:8). After the grass withers, the flower fades, the miracles forgotten and the money used up, God’s word will still be standing. It will last forever. God wants us to know and believe He is good because He says He is. He wants us to take Him at his word, no matter what the evidence may appear to be.
In my struggle to understand God’s goodness discovered this most poignant scripture. In Exodus 33 Moses asks God to show him His glory; he wanted to see God. God responds (in verse 19) by saying, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name “The LORD.”‘ Did you get it? Moses wanted to see God and God basically said, ‘So you want to see my goodness’. Goodness is one of God’s fundamental character qualities. It’s not an act or something He’s done or not done - it is His nature.
God is not merely good, but goodness; goodness is not really divine, but God. — C.S. Lewis, Christian Reflections
The second half of verse 19 explains what many people would consider as God’s inconsistent behaviour in miracles and divine intervention. ‘…And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.’ In other words, God will heal whom He will heal and grant miracles at His own pleasure, and for His purposes. We can command, demand, claim and blame but God’s sovereignty will never be bypassed.
We must believe in God’s total goodness or what’s the point? An all-powerful God who is half-good? There would be no future, or hope for eternity. Believing God is totally good is fundamental, and our reason for believing must be based on God’s word. Why? Because then our faith will stand up under any circumstance.
(All Bible quotes from the ESV)