Mysterious Goodness
There are many times in the Old Testament part of the Bible that God allows things to happen to either produce something in His people, to turn them back to Him, or to simply remind them of His glory. It could very well be all three of these at the same time too. Many people don’t understand how a loving and holy God can also show wrath and judgement. But both of those attributes, which we think of as negative, actually stem from His love and holiness. Since God is so loving and wants what is best for us, He sometimes drastically corrects us so that we see just how much we need Him. In addition, God is so holy, that for us to be His children it is important that we believe in His son, Jesus, and try to be more like Him.
In the book of Jeremiah, we find insight into the reasoning behind God allowing consequences for His people's actions to occur. We need to remember that God doesn’t do things to punish us, but to get our attention, so to point us back to Him and His perfect will for our lives. In Jeremiah chapter eleven verses ten to eleven we read as the Lord states, “they have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them…therefore, thus says the Lord, behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them.” The Lord responds this way due to the people's actions of worshipping other gods before Him. During this time, the gods they idolized were ones they sculpted themselves. Since they worshipped those gods, God decided to let them find out just how well their man-made gods worked, without His presence. Of course, the gods didn’t help since God is the only One True God. The way we can consider idolizing today is by thinking of anything that we give more attention and time to above God. Examples of idolatry in our lives consists of what we seek, above God, that we think can help us. This can include:
The thought of a relationship being the answer to fixing your problems
Attaining money or having your dream job to solve the issues in your life
The way you spend your time scrolling mindlessly on your phone
How you compare to, or praise others, because they have what you want
Envying those who are celebrities
I don’t know what the “idol” may be in your life, but we all have something we focus on and place above God at times. Although we are guilty of doing this, we must realize that God never leaves His people in their mess! In Jeremiah chapter thirty-one the Lord explains how He will turn the people’s mourning to joy. Verse eleven of chapter thirty-one states, “for the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.” As we read on God continues to paint a picture of what redeeming them looks like.
The Word reads, “..they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord…their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more” (Jeremiah 31:12).
The Lord goes on to say in part of verses thirteen to fourteen, “I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.. and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness...” The way God corrects and redeems His people is an evident theme of His goodness throughout the Old Testament! God just wants everyone to turn back to Him no matter what they have done or how bad they have messed up. There is another example of this found in the book of Joel. In chapter two verse thirteen the Lord says, “..return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster.” God gives many chances for His people to turn and repent before He actually takes action to correct them. It hurts God to see His people hurt. The last example is in Hosea chapter eleven verse eight when the Lord says to His people, “how can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?..My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.” The Lord sees us in our mess and distress, and His heart goes out to us. He is depicted as a good father who doesn’t have pity on His children, but instead shows compassion towards them. He is aware of how much His children always need Him.
God is our holy heavenly Father and His love outweighs our mistakes!
Our heavenly Father will always come to our rescue, welcoming those who repent with open arms. We may not be able to always understand how His goodness is being shown to us, but we can be confident knowing that He doesn’t leave us to fend for ourselves. All we have to do is humble ourselves, realizing how much we mess up and how much we need Him. God is always right there for you to call on because of what His son Jesus did for us. There is nothing that can come between you and God. You have full access to God because Jesus lived a perfect life, died a death we deserved as sinners, and rose from the dead so that we could be forgiven! Although we may not always understand how God is showing up in our lives, we can know that He has illustrated how He saves His people again and again! Therefore, the next time you have a trial in your life, remember what my pastor says, “have God define your circumstance not your circumstance define your God.” With God you can get through anything that happens in life, so trust in Him and His mysterious goodness.
