Let me not faint on this hard broken road;
Help me to still believe that Your goodness
Will again shine through the ominous clouds,
Preserving and perfecting the righteous.
As long as I live and move and have my being,
With courage, I will wait for You to move.
With my heart, I will praise You while waiting
Your tender mercies every morning You prove.
Your strength upholds me in my weakness.
Your power is above all and cannot dissipate.
In the present fellowship of Your sufferings,
By Your grace and love, may Your glory emanate.
~jlw
The goodness of God may not always appear as we think it should. I've lived long enough to look back and see God's goodness in my perceived limitations and losses. I've also not lived long enough to bypass times of faintness - when I wonder how any good could come out of situations of sin, selfishness, suffering, and sorrows that affect my heart.
"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." - Psalm 27:13
How can I "believe to see" God's goodness that I don't see now? My belief is strengthened in the stillness - in the silence - in the shadows of waiting for the light of God's goodness to be revealed. Truly, loud voices clamor to be the choice instant remedy causing no need to take time to pray to the God of goodness. This is opposite of the instruction to "wait."
Waiting on the Lord requires courage, but with courage comes a strengthened heart. When I have seen the goodness of God after a time of waiting, that sight (or that memory) builds the faith muscles in my heart. I remember the past goodness of God and believe in the goodness of God to come.
"Wait on the Lord : be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." -Psalm 27:14
Because God Himself is always good, I am reassured that He remains good even when I can't see it. I don't have to wonder each day if today is one of God's "good" days or not. He is faithful, true, and good. He never changes. His goodness is Who He is. He cannot not be good.
His goodness draws me to Him. In my humanity, I'm lacking goodness, and I desire goodness. If I see that a student is performing poorly, how I address the problem matters. If I were to call the student an undesirable name and tell him he's never going to perform well, will that student be drawn to my instruction? No! No! No! Even in correcting an issue, consistent goodness in the character of the teacher can draw a student to improvement because the student knows the teacher desires good for him.
So it is with God! He is good. He is life-speaking and life-giving. Anything less is not of Him.
If you're in a dark place today or if you're feeling faint emotionally or spiritually, believe God's goodness is there, and He is at work behind the clouds.
• Believe to See!
• Wait!
• Be of good courage!
___________________________
This verse was in the Scripture writing plan found at https://frommycorners.wordpress.com/2023/06/28/july-scripture-writing-plan-the-goodness-of-god/?mibe. You can download the plan for free at this link.
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