I have been reading through the book of Jeremiah and it has been challenging some of my ideas about how God is really good.
They shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. I will rejoice over them to do them good and will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul. For thus says the LORD, 'Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them.' (Jeremiah 32:38-42)
The word good is used 5 times in these 4 verses. God is for Israel's good. He is for the good of Israel's children. He commits to planting Israel in their land with all of His heart and His soul. All of this good and these promises are really encouraging until you remember that Jeremiah is receiving this word from God while He is in prison. He was "shut up in the court of the guard" (Jer 32:2) because the king was mad that he was prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem. And, this is after Jeremiah was thrown into the dungeon (Jer 37:16) and then rescued from being thrown into a cistern to starve to death (Jer 38:6-9). And, this is all at the same time that the city of Jerusalem is under siege by Babylon.
I don't know about you, but I'm not sure that I would be that interested in hearing about the "good" that God had planned for my city and my people if I had suffered like Jeremiah. Even if I was interested, it would be really hard to believe that God really wanted our good when I looked at the natural circumstances of living in a besieged city, being unjustly persecuted and imprisoned, and being on the verge of either death or living in captivity for 70 years. And yet, there it is in Jeremiah 32. God is clearly talking to Jeremiah about how much He loves Israel and how committed He is to their good.
This is really hard for me to understand and my life circumstances aren't even that difficult. I am really praying and asking God to convince me that He is for my good no matter what I see when I look at what is happening around me and to me. I think that this is important now and I can imagine that it will be even more important in the days to come. As I read what the Bible says about the last days before Jesus returns again, things sound extremely difficult. If I don't learn how to persevere through difficulty while maintaining the belief that God is good now, then what will I do in those days?
I think of Hebrews 12:15: See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled…
This verse reminds me to pay attention to what is happening in my heart and mind in response to my life. I am trying to train myself to start asking the following question every day: How do I respond when I get what I don't think I deserve or when I don't get what I think that I do deserve? In other words, what promotions and rewards do I think I deserve that I am not getting? Is there anything or anyone who is offending me? Am I feeling mistreated or thinking that I am getting something that I do not deserve? What are my expectations for how God and others should be treating me? My answers to these kinds of questions can reveal where bitterness toward God or others is springing up in my heart; where I am tempted to believe that God is not really good or for my good. Knowing this helps me know when and how I need to repent and remind myself of truth. God is good. I want to believe this because it's true, not because it seems true in my life.
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