Trusting in God’s Goodness in Hard Times
“The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him…” (Nahum 1:7)
It is not too difficult to affirm the goodness of God when all is going well—when you gaze into the eyes of your future spouse or when you sit by a lake on a glorious summer day. But it is a bit more difficult to extol the goodness of God during the storms of life--when your spouse betrays you, when your boss fires you, or when your doctor calls with life-altering medical news. Charles Spurgeon once wrote that “God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.” But how do we trust God with the pain in our lives? Can we trust God when others have let us down and even betrayed us?
If we are to trust God to lead us through life – if we are to put our hand in His hand – then we need to understand that God is always, only, and entirely good in all that He says, all that He does, and all that He is. Psalm 119:68 declares, “The Lord is good, and does good.” If we are to entrust our very selves to Him in life and in death, then we need to believe that He is navigating the waves of life for us in such a way to keep us, preserve us, and bless us—and not in such a way as to harm us. Recall that Jeremiah 29:11 declares, “ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” This means that no matter how we feel, if we belong to Jesus, God is at work in every situation we face to do us everlasting good. As Romans 8:28 states, “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” In all things– the good, the bad, the tragic, the painful, the surprising, the downright ugly– God is at work for our good.
One of the greatest times of trial on record for the people of God was during the time of the exile in Babylon, when many were removed from the land forced to move to the heart of the great pagan empire as the city of Jerusalem was destroyed. The book of Lamentations chronicles the cry of the heart of the people of God at that time. Lamentations 3 speaks to trusting the Lord in dark times: “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit alone in silence, for the LORD has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust – there may yet be hope…For men are not cast off by the LORD forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.”
The Lord may bring times of grief. He may navigate us through some very deep waters and high waves, but the truth that we need to cling to is that the Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him. He doesn’t willingly bring affliction. That is not his joy or delight. But He intends our good. He is ordering all things in our experience, not to make them easy, but in order to do us the most good. Of course, we can’t always see or understand what God is doing. We don’t see the big picture – not a fraction of it – but God sees it. We trust Him precisely because He is a good God who always does good. It can be hard to trust Him when the way isn’t clear, or when the winds roar and the waves rise. It can be hard to trust him when His word is calling us to costly obedience, or when the way of the world looks so appealing and so compelling. But here it is worth highlighting that trusting Jesus is always the wisest choice. The stakes are just too high to do otherwise. As the Psalmist points out, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” (Psalm 16:1).
Today, examine your life and ask if there is an area of pain or struggle where God is calling you to trust Him in new ways and in deeper ways? To those who belong to Him, the Psalmist points out that “no good thing does he (God) withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). To those who have never actually trusted Jesus Christ, who are still “on the fence” in making a decision to follow Him, the Scriptures invite you to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34). To the wounded and weary, to those whose trust in loved ones has been shattered, be encouraged today that you can lift your eyes up to the heavens—to your help that “comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth…The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.” (Psalm 121)
Whatever you are facing today, it can be released and placed into the loving hands of God Almighty. He is trustworthy. He can be trusted with your situation and struggles. As Fanny Crosby wrote in one of her classic hymns: “All the way my Saviour leads me – what have I to ask beside? Can I doubt his tender mercy, who thru life has been my guide? Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort, here by faith in Him to dwell! For I know what-e’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.”