May 2, 2025
Believing in The Goodness of God
“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of God in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13
These words were written by King David in a time where enemies were coming against him. We see David as a conquering hero in scripture, but at his core, he is no different than you and I. If you read Psalm 27, there was a battle between his heart and his emotions. In one breath, David says (v. 1), “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear.” And he adds in verse 2 that when his enemies advance against him, they will “stumble and fall.” But then he pleads a few verses later, “do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger” and adds, “do not forsake me, God, my Savior (V. 9).”
That’s where we all find ourselves in times of trial, living in the disconnect between what we know in our head and heart and what our emotions are telling us.
As I write these words, our family has been dealing with a series of trials, mostly health related, and it just feels like setback after setback on our dreams. It’s easy to ask, “Why is this happening, Lord?” It’s easy to get so tangled up in the emotions of the moment that we fail to see the promises of God, that He will never leave us nor forsake us. In the crucible of life, we can even doubt the goodness of God because He allowed these difficult trials to happen.
But God never said that our lives would be trouble free. In fact, Jesus says this to his disciples in John 16:33: “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.” Of course, he overcame every trouble this world can throw our way at the cross. We have a hope and a future because Jesus overcame the world. Trials can’t derail us. Setbacks and failures won’t define us. Failing health will not be our end. Even our death is not final for those who trust and believe in Jesus. It is a springboard for life eternal in the presence of our Savior!
So as you go through trials, I would challenge you to look for the goodness of God in the midst of the chaos. He’s there with you, working in your circumstances, working for your good, shaping your story, working to bring glory and honor to His name for what He’s going to do through you.
Special Note: this devotion was written prior to my oldest daughter spending eight days in the hospital with a serious heart condition. She will have to undergo intense continuous treatment for a year and will be unable to work during the treatment. It’s one of those trials that causes us to have a thousand fears, doubts and questions. But in those eight days that she was in the hospital, we witnessed the goodness of God in the land of the living! Almost daily, we have seen miracles through the generosity of others and the provision of God! One by one, God has answered question after question, doused the fires of our fears and has frankly worked in ways we couldn’t have imagined!
Friend, I promise that you will see the goodness of God in the land of the land living. Just trust Him and believe. Your story is still being written.