God Is Good...

...All the Time
And all the time...
God is Good.

We say it a lot, and I think most of the time we mean it, but a part of this simple phrase has made me think a lot lately.

It normally goes like this -

Life is normal.
*sweet music in the background*
Crisis strikes.
*Cue scary music*
We panic.
*music rises*
We panic some more.
*music reaches a climactic pitch*
Something resolves and the crisis is eliminated.
*Cue relieved face*

You know what comes next.....

"God is Good," we say with a sigh of relief, wiping our hand across our forehead as we ponder on the narrowness of our escape from tragedy.

So obviously we are thanking God for ending whatever just happened - tire got fixed - person got better - money came in - and we (rightly) are giving God praise for his goodness. Good stuff, and quite proper I think.

But why is that when we say it?

Well obviously, you say, God has been good to us for ending that ____ (fill in blank)

I find myself asking why that is the only time we say it - why is it *after* the crisis, we say God is good to us?

I think that timing speaks volumes about what we believe about how God should be treating us. We give God thanks in plenty with sunny skies, we panic when it all goes catty-hoopus, and then thank God when the clouds leave and the sun comes back.

If you work it out logically, it means that if you only are saying God is good when times are good, that means that you think God is not good when times are not good. Thank God for all the plenty. Hot-Doggidy what is this-  - Hard times? PANIC. WORRY. FRET. Whew, hard times behind - God is good.

Why aren't we thanking God in the hard times - *during* the accident, *during* the sickness?

And I am not talking about looking for the bright side of things and thanking God for that -  that still implies that there is a dark side of things that you are not thanking God for. I am talking about thanking God for the rough, the tough, and the no-fun. The mud on the Church clothes. The rain on the picnic. The lack of funds.

There is a story in WWII, where the only reason that the prisoners in German concentration camps were allowed to read their Bibles in peace, was because of the very lice that they had complained about was keeping the German guards out of their rooms - leaving them to read, study, and worship in absolute peace.

Sometimes those bad times are just what we need, and we need to thank God for them. Why wouldn't we? We shouldn't be thankful for all the good stuff God dishes out, only to be cranky when the mill slows down.

 Really, what have we to complain about?  

 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Flowers need rain *and* shine guys. And both in good portions.

And yes, that verse does say *all* things. Even flat tires. Even broken legs. Even sadness, heartache, misery, and unfair treatment. And even lice. All things.

So next time you land flop in a doozie, stop for a second and thank God for it. Don't try to find some reason why it is good, because that still leaves out thanking God for the bad. Just thank God for it, and move on. Like the verse said, it will work for good.

So, I guess I was wrong.

If you thank God in hard times, in reality, you really are thanking God for the good stuff.

The phrase "It's all good", suddenly has new meaning. Bummer, it so irks me when people say it.  : (

In the long run, if we really look back at our lives, we will find that it is those hard times that produced the best growth in us. God said it's better to go to a funeral than a house of feasting.

God gives us those hard times, because he knows we need them.  

Yeah - I was wrong. I guess bad times, really are good times, and then, no matter what, we come back around to thanking God for the good times.

Imagine that. God must be good.