Because God is good, everything that comes to us from Him is meant for our benefit. God’s good is the highest good; after His goodness there is no better or best. The Gospel is the “Good News” because it comes to us from God. We are also assured that He will not withhold any good thing from those who walk uprightly before Him.
We are told in the Scriptures that God is able to work all things together for the good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. In ways that we may not fully know or understand, God is able to take even the hard and difficult things we go through and use them for the good. Goodness, not evil, will always have the final say in our lives as we trust God to fulfill His purposes for us.
After years of hardships, unfairness, rejection, and isolation, Joseph was able to say, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” Genesis 50:20 NKJV. Joseph understood the goodness of God because he was able to witness the purpose of God fulfilled through all he experienced. The good purpose of God was something much greater than just the life of Joseph, it was to save the lives of the children of Israel and the lives of the Egyptians, in whose land they had come to dwell and grow into a great nation.
Our lives are not just about God being good to us, but also about God using us to extend His goodness to others. We can see this in the lives of people like Corrie Ten Boom and Amy Carmichael. God used the incredible hardships of Corrie Ten Boom for the good purpose of bringing hope, comfort, and encouragement to people all around the world. Amy Carmichael came to understand that God was able to use her pain for the good purpose of ministering, with empathy and compassion, to others who were hurting and going through great suffering.
Whatever you may be going through today, no matter how dark the sky may be, or how deep the valley takes you, be assured that God has not abandoned you, and because He is with you, goodness has not abandoned you…it will follow you all the days of your life, and goodness will prevail in the end.
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