When I was growing up, my family would always pray before a meal.  I cannot remember a time when we did not thank God for the food before us.  Even when I was quite young, I was given a “turn to pray.”  And this is what I would say:

“God is great.  God is good.  Let us thank Him for our food.  Amen.”

Do you believe that?  Do you believe that God is great … and good?

I don’t believe I have ever run across a person who said he believed in God … but thought that He was weak.  “God” and “great” just seem to go together.  These two words seem inseparable, whether in times of joy or (especially) in times of pain.  Indeed, one of the best places to observe a person’s belief in the power of God is in an Intensive Care waiting room.  There, even those who are not all that religious will often turn to God because they believe He is able to help them when no one else can.  For those who believe in Him, the greatness of God is a given.

The goodness of God, however, is a different matter.  “God” and “good” do not always go together, at least in the heart of the one who is suffering.  I have known more than a few people who were bitter toward the God they said was great.  And most of the time, the reason they resented Him is because they believed He had let them down in some way:

• He had “cheated” them from having something He should have given them … but didn’t.

• Or He had “robbed” them of something they used to have … and should still have … but no longer have … because He took it away from them.

The Bible knows nothing of a God that “cheats” and “robs.”  But the God of the Bible does withhold.  And He does remove.  The Father does allow the pain of loss and helplessness and brokenness to enter the lives of the children He dearly loves.

The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the LORD.  (Job 1:21)

Why would He do that?  There is an answer to this question.  When God decides to crumble the self-reliant spirit of a self-assured person, His purpose in doing so is for this crippled life to become more dependent upon Him.  IF faith is the response of this weakened one, the gaping hole in his life can now be filled, not with the power of frail men but with the power of almighty God.

It becomes a life that can glorify more fully the God of his redemption.

It becomes a life that can represent the Savior more accurately to a spiritually-bankrupt world that is hopelessly groping in darkness and sentenced to an eternal death.

It becomes a life that – throughout all eternity – will share more fully in the radiant glory of the Son of God …

… all of which are infinitely more important than his own health, prosperity and well-being,

… and all of which are infinitely more important than the health, prosperity and well-being of those he loves,

… but none of which would have been possible apart from this painful – but priceless – gift of brokenness.

So, do you believe in the goodness of God in the good times … and the bad?  To truly appreciate the value of suffering, we must have the same perspective God has.  We are not weakened because God failed in His responsibility to keep us happy.  We are weakened because He loves us enough to share His glory with us … an eternal glory that demands that we first be emptied of ourselves so that, through faith, we might be filled with the power of a great God.

Dear friends, when we can truthfully say in the midst of pain,

God is great and God is good,

then – and only then – will we be able to say,

Let us thank Him for our weaknesses.

For when we are weak, then we are strong … in Christ Jesus.

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.  (2^nd Corinthians 12:9-10)

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(To the readers in the believing community:  I would greatly appreciate your prayers, that the Master-Teacher would be the Author of these writings.)