The Goodness of God
Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you,
in the sight of the children of mankind!
Psalm 31:19
What a stack of blessing you have piled up for those who worship you, ready and waiting for all who run to you to escape an unkind world.
Psalm 31:19 (Message)
For years, Chuck E Cheese has been a spot that has provided lots of fun that all of my grandchildren have enjoyed. During a summer visit with the Seattle kids, once again CC made the list of things to do. Long ago we had decided it wasn’t about the pizza, but the acquiring of tickets from the fun games and rides.
On this particular day, there were only a few others playing and the kids seemed to have wins on every machine. The excitement of winning two or three tickets quickly wore off as they saw a machine next to them spit out ten or twelve. They waited in line to play that particular game expecting to get the same results, but again, only two or three. It seemed that the goal went from enjoying the game to focusing on how many tickets they could acquire.
From the far side of store I heard the squeals and laughter when the four year old hit the jackpot and won 100 tickets. Older brother played the same game repeatedly hoping to get the same results, but frustration rose and disappointment settled in. Until…
All three were sharing turns on one particular game when the tickets starting spitting out profusely. They came and came and came, unending. The pile of abundance grew larger and larger. We all began laughing in amazement. I thought the machine would surely begin to smoke and sputter, but it just continued to pour out tickets.
Often times the way that I see God can be embarrassing. There I stood in the middle of Chuck E Cheese crying over a pile of tickets. The children laughed and clapped and shouted while I stood and cried. God showed me that His love and goodness are the same. With no performance on my part, He just pours out Himself. His love and goodness are unstoppable. It goes on and on and on. His mercy and goodness chase me longing to be seen and known. He loves me and He wants me to live in the joy and abundance of His faithfulness. It is not dispensed because of my playing the game correctly. It is not based on any of my performance. His goodness comes because that is Who God is.
“You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.”
Ps. 119:68
In the hard of life, it is easy to miss the goodness of God.
Our eyes stare at the circumstances and we miss the little blessings of God. We seem to forget that He has been faithful our entire life. And then, suddenly, we are simply overwhelmed by the display of goodness. Like children gathering little tickets here and there He shows up just to delight us and remind us how unstoppable His love, goodness and faithfulness really are.
“God’s goodness conveys His generosity. His goodness means far more than His generosity, but it certainly includes His infinitely generous attitude toward us. By nature, He longs to bring joy and blessing to all His creatures.” David Jeremiah
“Lord, open our eyes to your goodness! Turn our eyes away from staring at the performance of others, or our own performance and give us an expectancy of seeing you all around us. Lift our eyes from staring at the difficult to gazing upon You and Your goodness.”
You might enjoy one of my favorite worship songs:
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
1 Chronicles 16:34