Delight & Be GOODNESS

the lord is my light and my salvation // whom shall i fear?
the lord is the stronghold of my life // of whom shall i be afraid?

though an army encamp against me // my heart shall not fear
though war arise against me // yet i will be confident

one thing have i asked of the lord // that i will seek after
that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life
to gaze upon the beauty of the lord // and to inquire in his temple

for he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent // he will lift me high upon a rock

and now my head shall be lifted up // above my enemies all around me
and i will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy // i will sing and make melody to the lord

hear o lord when i cry aloud // be gracious to me and answer me!
you have said “seek my face” // my heart says to you “your face lord do i seek”
teach me your way o lord // lead me on a level path

i believe that i shall look upon the goodness of the lord in the land of the living
wait for the lord // be strong and let your heart take courage
wait for the lord

psalm 27

The word goodness intrinsically carries the connotation of positivity. When I think goodness, I think “great, wonderful, clearly good”. I think of things that are, without a doubt, positive blessings in life. Maybe something that was given to me that put a smile on my face, an act done by someone that blessed me, or that time when I got a parking spot in the front of the parking lot and thought “life is good”. Something inherently good and clearly a wonderful contribution to this thing we call life.

But, this past month, God has been redefining my definition of goodness. In His faithful and good way, He has been revealing to me that there is so much more to goodness than having a positive moment or addition to life. That actually, often, goodness comes in the form of trial or hardship. That often, the goodness that He places in my life actually feels like pain in the moment.

What a twisted and convoluted way to work! How opposite could you get. Yet, God’s nature is not twisted and convoluted. Just… sometimes it can feel like it. But that is because His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are greater than our thoughts. You see, God, the Creator of the Universe and Lover of our Souls, sees so much more of the bigger picture than we do. He sees how trials or pain in our lives produce goodness in the long run. How great blessings come out of running hard and sacrificing much in the moment. I mean, really, its knitted into the very nature of life. A caterpillar that works extremely hard to cocoon and wrap itself up tight for days, ends up flying free as a beautiful butterfly. A baby grows for nine months in its mother’s womb and grows while it’s mother is puking, sleeping uncomfortably, and having extremely weird cravings, but the end product is a human being! A lovely, small human that grows and struggles through life, to know the beauty of being loved and loving others well. The school teacher gives her students homework day after day, and the kids complain and complain. Yet, what discipline comes out of such hard work. Those same kids go on to work in factories, offices, to lead the nation, and all of that is from the goodness that received from learning the reward of hard work and what you can accomplish when you take on great responsibility. So much goodness can come out of so much trial.

In this redefining of goodness, I have seen how sometimes God puts things in my life that do not feel good to me in the moment. In fact, they feel like the last thing I ever wanted to happen or the pain that I never wanted to experience. But, in God’s big and sovereign plan, He saw it as the absolute best thing that could possibly happen to me. And He sees the trial and pain in your life, as the best possible thing that could happen to you too.

Now, goodness goes two ways. It is given and it is received. We often are given goodnesses by God, people who come into our lives at just the right time to encourage and uplift us, a challenge in our work that teaches us to push towards success, or sometimes a chronic illness that hurts but ultimately teaches us perseverance and how to comfort those who are in need around us. Other times, we give goodness to others. It is often something we do that brings goodness into another’s life.

This re-definition of goodness works the same when we are putting goodness into someone else’s life. Often, goodness can look like great blessing and be a straight up gift that we drop at someone’s doorstep. BUT sometimes goodness comes harshly. Many times it is best for us to be honest and real with our friend, to produce goodness in their life. For example, when someone is harming themselves because of suffering they are going through, goodness may come in the form of intervention and faithful care. As a friend, you may have to be harsh and strict with them to help free them from something that is causing them harm. Ultimately, you are doing good in their life to free them from a pain they are chained to.

The ultimate display of goodness is shown on the Cross. You know, that item that religious peoples wear on their neck. But that actually is the greatest symbol of goodness that the world has ever known. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came down, humbled Himself to the form of man from God, and gave up His life on the Cross. He died on the Cross so that the people, all of us, could be free from the sins that entangle us and trap us. He suffered and bled and died to give goodness into our lives. Through great pain and suffering He loved us.

His pain produced beauty. He created a bridge between us and God, so that we could know God, talk with Him, and live with Him forever.

Talk about goodness.

So here’s a question. Or two.

How has God shown you goodness this week?

How can you show someone else goodness this month?

Let it be said of God’s people that we were vigilant to love on others and spread the kind of goodness that changes lives like Jesus did on the cross.

– Charissa Wong