Two posts ago, I introduced the importance of theology in relation to how we think about our relationships (or lack thereof).
Last time I briefly talked about the sovereignty of God. Now let's at the goodness of God.
God
is Good
The Bible shows us that God is not only sovereign,
but He is also good. By good I mean
loving, kind, merciful, and gracious. God is not an autocratic ruler. He is the
Father of those who belong to Him through
Jesus Christ. And as a perfect Father, His heart is full of good things for His
children. Jesus affirms this in Matthew 7:11 when He says, “ If you then,
who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will
your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
It is true that what the child wants is not always truly good at that moment. Just because a two-
year old wants candy for dinner doesn’t mean that a loving father will give it
to him. But my suspicion is that you have an easier time believing that than
you do believing that God is really as good as He says He is. So let’s spend a
minute looking at our temptation to doubt God’s ubiquitous goodness.
The temptation to doubt God’s goodness goes way back
to a Snake in a garden who successfully convinced our first parents that God
might not be as good as they initially thought. The doubt surfaces again in Israel’s
history when God delivers them from their bondage in Egypt, and they quickly
begin to wonder if God only freed them to let them die of hunger and thirst in
the middle of nowhere (Ex. 16:2-3, 8). Later in the biblical storyline, we see
that old Serpent trying the same temptation on Jesus when he says, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of
bread” (Matt. 4:3). Jesus had been in the desert fasting for 40 days. Matthew tells us
that the Spirit of God lead him out there (4:1). So, Satan is basically saying,
“God is your Father isn’t He? Has He led you out here and left you starve in
this wasteland? That doesn’t sound like a good
Father. Perhaps you should take matters
into your own hands.” Thankfully, Jesus
did not fail as Adam and Eve, Israel, or you and I have. He didn’t listen to the lies of Satan or
prefer His belly over God.
Brothers and sisters, don’t fall
for this questioning of God’s goodness. Don’t judge God’s goodness based on
your timetable and your cravings. Instead, trust His goodness based on the
greatest demonstration of mercy ever: the sacrificing of His Son in your place
so that He might offer you His eternal joy by forgiving your sin. Romans 8:32
says, “[God] who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us
all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” He gave us
the best gift! How could we doubt that He has kind intentions toward us? To
quote pastor CJ Mahaney,
Your greatest need is not a spouse.
Your greatest need is to be delivered from the wrath of God- and that has
already been accomplished for you through the death and resurrection of Christ.
So why doubt that God will provide a much, much lesser need? Trust His
sovereignty, trust His wisdom, trust His love.”
Look to the cross as the ultimate
display of God’s goodness to you, and then trust that He is a good Father in
every area of your life. God was not stingy in showing us His saving grace and
goodness. Surely He will not be stingy in doing good to us all the days of our
lives (Psalm 23:5-6). He doesn’t give His children stones to eat. You may
hunger for the intimacy you think a spouse would bring, but do not allow this
desire to cloud your judgment of who God is. He has given you Himself in Jesus
Christ. He has not withheld the best gift in the universe, so do not doubt his
goodness.
Now, if we stop here we have not
gone far enough. If God were simply sovereign and good, He may desire to do what is best and be able to do what is best, but He may
not know the best way to achieve His
good purposes. Thus, we would still find it hard to trust Him in a trying time
of singleness. So, let’s look at God’s wisdom.
