This is the synopsis of the next book I’ll be working on in 2013. I was praying some months back and I felt like the Lord told me that I needed to write about His goodness. I’ve seen far too many people fall away from the faith because they struggle with this concept. It’s time we address God’s goodness in a new way: one where we experience God’s goodness for ourselves.
The American Church Is Failing
Through the years I’ve met a lot of Christians who really struggle with the concept that God is good. They have a hard time reconciling the reality of life they see around them and what they’ve experienced and the notion of a good God. I blame, in part, the teaching that God is loving and waiting for us to accept His Son apart from the reality of impending judgment. Unless there is a full understanding of the consequences of this life, the gospel isn’t good news, it’s just news.
If we don’t have a full understanding of the true nature of our fallen state, then we will be completely incapable of fully comprehending the magnitude of the grace and forgiveness offered to us by Jesus’ sacrifice. If we don’t understand the gravity of our situation and the amazing reality of our salvation then we, like spoiled children, will not be able to accept pain and suffering that are common in this life.
Christians throughout history and in places around the world today understand that when they go through trials, pain, rejection and suffering it isn’t because God isn’t good, but because of something deeper going on. Some of the greatest men and women in church history have much to say about these things and their relevance to our lives.
Without a complete picture of who we are and who God is and how we relate to one another, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to see God as truly good. But that is exactly what He is: truly good.
He is the only one good on earth.
Critically Important
In the coming days, knowing for certain that God is good will be critically important for the body of Christ. Many people believe that we are in the last days: the days when we might possibly see Jesus return. If that is the case, Jesus himself had many things to say to that generation about being prepared.
Whether you believe in pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, post-tribulation or “pan”-tribulation rapture, we should all take seriously Jesus’ command to be prepared. Why? Jesus said that persecution, wars, increasing sinfulness and apostasy were all troubles we would see long before the day of His return. At the very least, we must be prepared for these things.
Jesus told us there would be offenses that would come against us as time progressed. If we waver on the goodness of God, then we may very well likely succumb to the offenses that will come.
More and more people these days, especially those who have spent years in the church, are offended at God. They are offended at His standards. More and more people who have soundly professed Jesus are falling away in record numbers in America because they are offended by some aspect of the God of their understanding.
Our Responsibility To Encounter God
We must proclaim God’s goodness in this hour. We must teach our children how and why God is good. We must go beyond hearing of God’s goodness to experiencing it for ourselves.
The church in America needs to encounter the Truly Good God before it’s too late. God will give us revival and awakening when His people begin to see Him, and He alone, as truly good.
I am a writer, author and purveyor of ink on paper. I also preach, teach and create Excel spreadsheets.