Living the Good Life

Good.

Do you look around your life and feel like you’re in a “good place”?  How do you define good? 

On a human level, we define good as a time when everything is going well.  Problems are few.  Provision is plenty.  Things are going as they should.

But that is human wisdom.  It’s deciding the standard of how we think life should be and then judging our circumstances as good or bad according to that standard.

“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

I remember reading this verse as a junior higher and thinking, “Wow, my life is set!  God is only going to bring me good things – He won’t let anything harm me!”

That human wisdom goes well until something does come along that harms you.  A natural disaster destroys your home.  A friend destroys your reputation.  A burglar comes robs you of your possessions and sense of safety.

When we come face to face with adversity, we often question something very important:  the goodness of God. 

“God, how could You let this happen?  Why didn’t You come through?  You have abandoned me!”

Do tragedies make verses like Jeremiah 29:11 untrue?  How do we understand what is happening in our lives when evil seems to prevail and good seems hard to find?

If we take a look in the Bible, we will see how God defined good.  And some of it may be surprising.

God took just 6 days to create our beautiful planet with its millions of people, plants and animals, a delicate and intricate ecosystem and with beauty that speaks of who He really.  At the end of each of the 6 days He took to create this world, the Bible says,

“And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1)

I think we would all agree – our world is good!  Amazing!  What an incredible, creative God we serve!

But there are other things that God defined as good that we may be slow to agree are actually good. 

Joseph, who is given a really good dream by God about his future, incurs the jealous wrath of his brothers and is sold into slavery.  For years, he is imprisoned, is wrongfully accused and he suffers.

Years later, when Joseph has been raised to power by Pharoah, Joseph’s brothers come to him desperate for food, as the land was in a severe famine.  The brothers don’t know they are standing before Joseph, but you’d better believe he knows who they are.

When Joseph finally reveals himself to his brothers, this is what he says,” But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”  (Genesis 50:20)

God’s good plan was to save many people from the horrific famine in the land.  But

            But good came through slavery and false accusations. 

OK.  Let’s read some more.

Isaiah was a prophet to the nation of Israel, speaking to them the words of God.  In Isaiah 53, he was prophesying about the coming of the Messiah:

“But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief.  Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants.  He will enjoy a long life,and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied.  And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.”  Isaiah 53:10-11

God’s ultimate good plan was the gift of salvation for all men through Jesus!  For our good. 
         But good came through the violence of the cross. 

Here’s one more.

“But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”  Heb 12:10-11

God’s good plan is to have us share in His holiness. 

        But good comes through painful discipline.

I fear we are days where human wisdom prevails, even in the Church.  We hear a lot about pursuing your dreams, God wants to prosper you, God wants to give you success!  He only wants good things for you!

That is true.  God does want good things for us.  But good as defined by who?  Because if we rely on defining our lives by what WE determine is good, we may very well miss the good that almighty God wants to work in and through us.

The good work in Joseph’s life, through the pain of injustice, was to save millions of lives, including the nation of Israel, God’s own people.

The good plan of salvation, that cost Jesus His very life, saves us from an eternity apart from God.

The good plan for us to life holy lives, brought through painful discipline, brings the peaceful harvest of right living.

God has good plans for us – and He is using whatever painful and difficult circumstances we are in to bring about those purposes.  We may be exactly where we do not want to be – but that does not mean that God is not at work in our lives. 

Maybe you are reading this and you are just done.  Done with the pain, the injustice, the hurt.  Please, don’t give up.  Don’t give in to fear.  Don’t walk away from where you are at.  God can use the very painful place that you are at to bring great good - hope and healing to you and to others! 

 “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”  (Philippians 1:6)

That, my friends, is living the good life.