God Is Good

Readers here may know how much I admire Fr. Stephen Freeman's blog Glory to God for All Things. I probably link to him too often, but often times he strikes a deep chord with me and expresses himself better than I can. This post is simply amazing.

A taste:

1. We must believe that God is good.

I struggled with this for many years. I believed that God was sovereign; I believed that He was the Creator of heaven and earth; I believed that He sent His only Son to die for me. But despite a hosts of doctrines to which I gave some form of consent, not included (and this was a matter or my heart) was the simple, straight-forward consent that God is good. My father-in-law, a very simple Baptist deacon of great faith, believed this straight-forward truth with an absolute assurance that staggered my every argument. I knew him for over 30 years. When I was young (and much more foolish) I would argue with him - not to be out-maneuvered by his swift and crafty theological answers (it was me that was trying to maneuver and be swift and crafty) - but often times our arguments would end with his smile and simple confession, “Well, I don’t know about that, but I know that God is good.” Over the years I came to realize that until and unless I believed that God is good, I would never be able to truly give thanks. I could thank God when things went well, but not otherwise.

I am tempted to add my own commentary at this point, but I would simply be summarizing what Fr. Stephen wrote, and he says it better than I can. Please read his post.