As we end this week on goodness, this song is one of the first things that popped into my head. It's so easy to forget how everlasting boundless the Lord's goodness is. No matter where you go, how far gone you are, or how long you've been away, His goodness will always be forever.
I hope y'all are having a great week, and I pray that God is speaking to you each day as we post what He has placed on our hearts!
This week as we reflect on goodness, I have constantly had the song, How Great is Our God, in my head. Not only is the Lord the definition of goodness, He is also our GREAT God! So, as Christians what are we called to do in order to honor our great God?
Worship!
We have been made to worship God in every aspect of our lives. When you hear the word worship you most likely think of singing a song, closing your eyes, and holding up your hands. However, worship is more than just singing. Worship is a lifestyle that includes everything we think, say and do. For me, that was huge. Worship isn't just something I do on Sunday mornings. It is something that should occur in my life daily. Wow.
When I came across this definition of worship, I sat still for a few minutes and let it sink in. I thought, "So, in order to worship my Great God, I must live it out all the time by the things I think, say and do?" That changes things, friends. How many times a day do you find yourself thinking things that you would never say out loud? Or how many times have you made a comment to a friend about what someone is wearing? In all of these situations, we are not worshiping our great God like we were made to do.
Another thought I had...don't we all worship something? Many of us worship a relationship we have in our life or a significant other. Some worship money, clothes, food, and there are many other things. How can you find out if there is something in your life that you worship? What is the one thing in your life that you are constantly thinking about? Ouch. Yep, that's probably something in your life that you worship. However, as children of God we are called to only worship Him! We need to change our focus and we need to make sure that He is who we are worshiping and nothing else.
My next thought...how can I do a better job of encompassing worship in my life every single day and making it a lifestyle? I decided to take some steps that would remind me each day that I was made to worship my great King and nothing else.
1. I decided to type this verse up and put it in a place where I would see it each morning...
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” Revelation 4:11
2. When you wake up each morning, pray that God will remind you constantly to worship Him in your actions, your words to others, and also your thoughts. Spend time with Him and allow Him to fill you up with His Spirit. This will change your day and will also change your life. By doing what we are all called to do, God is able to use us in so many ways and we will be blessed!
I encourage you to also put this verse somewhere that you will see it daily and have it as a reminder to change your lifestyle to one of worshiping our GREAT God in every moment of every day!
We all face dark days and want to give up when we can no longer see the light, but if you are
fighting the good fight you do not give up even when the “going gets tough”, you push on! We all are broken sinners, which makes it difficult to stand firm in your faith without God's constant support and mercy he freely gives us. We must always find the goodness in every situation, even in the midst of suffering and pain, it took me awhile to learn how to do so.
Caught In SIN
There was a time in my life when I was in a very bad place because I was in constant sin, which was naturally followed with a lot of discontentment. I was
living for myself, and I did not really even know what my purpose in life because
I felt very empty inside. I was entangled to my sin, and I was constantly searching for fulfillment. I sought satisfaction to my discontentment through a lot of heavy drinking while partying along with unhealthy relationships with guys. I was striving to be happy but only plunging deeper into sinful misery. I could
have chose to let go of my negative entanglement of sin; however, I chose not
to see the good in anything because I felt bogged down by my mistakes, regrets,
which gave me no hope for anything good in my life. I was completely blinded. We find in
Hebrews 12:1 exactly what we should do when we feel trapped, “let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run
with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Blinded by Sin
I was in desperate need of a savior, but surrendering was
not easy, change is never easy. I could not see any goodness coming from believing that God wanted to pour out his grace to me because I did not feel worthy of it, but grace is receiving something that you do not deserve. I just did not want to accept something that I did not feel worthy of. Pretty dumb. However, God made it clear to me that I did not have to continue
living in the dark, he worked on my heart by pushing me to accept his grace. He also made it clear that I needed to take responsibility
for my life. I could no longer blame other people or my “misfortunate luck” as
causing factors of my failure and suffering. I realized I could either chose to get it together
and move forward, seeing all the good that I could see at the time or I could
continue driving myself further into the darkness of my miserable life that I
was living.
Connections to Job
In the Old Testament we find Job in the middle of a bad place in his own life, “I am disgusted with my life. Let me complain freely" (10:1). Job's story is much different from my on story because I was in the midst of suffering because it was self-inflicted; however, Job's suffering was not his own fault. Job had lost his wealth, children, and health. He was very upset and expressed his emotions like any human would normally do, likewise I finally expressed my suffering to God even though I had caused it. I was in at similar boat as Job because my emotions were very in line with his emotions of pain and suffering. No matter the cause of suffering it will eventually lead to death if it is not handled correctly, you will become so absorbed in self-pity you will become very unhealthy in your choices and actions.
I chose to move forward, and I started pulling myself from
all of the negative influences and surrounding myself with more positive
influences. During this changing process, I moved backwards and forwards in my faith for awhile, I was not grounded. As we look back to the story of Job we find him asking why me and he constantly was pleading his innocence to his friends. His friends were convinced that there was some great sin that was causing his suffering. His friends tried to point out to Job that he did need to repent of sin, and that his view of God was very narrow-minded. One of his friend's, Eliphaz, tells Job the following which is truth, "submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. Listen to his instructions and store them in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored--so clean up your life (22:21-23 NLT)." In another encounter, Job's friend Elihu speaks truth, "He (GOD) gets their attention and commands that they turn from evil. If they listen and obey God, they will be blessed with prosperity throughout their lives" (36:10-11 NLT).
Finally, God answers Job in a whirlwind with a series of questions. . .
"Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?
Brace yourself like a man, because I have questions for you, and you
must answer them.
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much.
Who determined the dimensions and stretched out the surveying line?
What supports the foundations and who laid the cornerstone as the
morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb,
and as I clothed it would clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness?" (38:2-9 NLT).
God is Good
How powerful is that? Changes your perspective on the greatness of God, just a bit does it not ?! God's view of suffering is that it causes us to trust him for who he is, not what he does or does not do. Job finally repented, but not for hidden sin that his friend's were insisting that he repent of, instead he repented for questioning God's sovereignty and goodness. In conclusion, God points out that Job's friends were wrong for judging him without knowing what God was doing. However, God did bless Job with a fruitful life after his confession.
Likewise, I asked for forgiveness for not trusting God and believing that he was Almighty in power to save me; however, I also repented of all my known sin that I caused because I was living for myself and my desires. Since that point, I strived to be obedient and see good and positive aspects
of my life. I started making new friends who are still are
strong influencers on my life right now, and I started seeing life with a
totally new perspective. I am able to love others in a way that I
have never be able to love. When before I was very closed up and I did not know
how to show affection to others; however, since then I have noticed that I have
compassionate heart ready to pour out into my family, friends, students, and
even strangers. I am able to love in this way because God points out the good
in so many people, things, and situations in my life because, he has removed
the “blinders” and I am no longer narrow-minded to a negative outlook on life.
While
I still struggle, sin, and face suffering, I direct my motives and questions to “what is this doing to
help me grow in my faith’ and I keep in mind that God is GOOD and cares a great deal for me. While sometimes we do not understand his reasoning he must endure suffering whether we bring it on by our sin or it comes unwanted. Just know that he reigns ALMIGHTY in power and he is GOOD all the time !! He will bring good things out of your suffering if you choose to see the good and keep hope for the future, HE has made a promise to you, "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT).
God’s goodness is easy to see when fun, exciting, happy things are going on in life.
marriage
the birth of a baby
new friendships
financial security
What happens to God’s goodness when bad things happen?
divorce
infertility
loneliness
debt
God’s goodness stays the same.
Even in the midst of all of life’s struggles, pains, and disappointments God’s goodness is still there for us to embrace. If there is anything that I have learned through my walk with Christ it is that my walk shouldn’t be based on my current circumstances. Life is a rollercoaster; there are good days, bad days, sad days, and happy days. But, our days would be much more consistent if we chose to keep our eyes on the only one who DOESN’T change. If we only look at our present surroundings, we are sure to get discouraged and become obsessed with looking at the bad. But, if we focus on God and the goodness of his nature, we will understand that he LOVES us and that is actively working everything out by HIS plan.
“Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”
Romans 8:26-28
While you may be in a time in your life where you are asking God “Why”, remember how much he loves you and how he wants GOOD for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says that he wants to bring good, not harm to us. We are his ultimate treasure. He sent his Son to die on a tree… just for us. His plans for us are more than we can comprehend, so we just have to keep our hearts fixed on him and not allow our circumstances to change what we know is true.
We are so glad that you found us here at Fearless. We are just four girls in our twenties who met through the wonderful world of blogging and have formed a connection we didn't know was possible. We have grown to love Jesus and love others through our relationships with one another. Our goal here at Fearless is to love God and love people. Stick around and see what it is all about!
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7
