GUEST BLOGGER: Amy Swanson
Sunday morning, we sang a song declaring this truth, and it was powerful. Did anyone else feel it?
The song is called “King Of My Heart”, and part of it goes like this:
You are good, good, oh-ohh
You are good, good, oh-ohh
You’re never gonna let
Never gonna let me down
It’s a great song, glorifying the goodness of God.
I really hope you caught it, the magnitude of power, truth, and love that came off the stage during worship. Beyond that, I noticed something wonderful, and I just HAD to share it with you!
For those that don’t know me, my name is Amy. FC has been my home church, as an adult, for the last 11 years. Though, I first attended as a young teen over 24 years ago! I am in awe of what the Lord is doing here, and caught a special glimpse of it during that worship set; a side we don’t always get to see, but one I feel is important to recognize.
As many of you know, our church family recently suffered some huge losses. One particular family lost their 18 year old daughter (a beloved friend of many, here at FC) and another family lost their home and pets in a devastating fire.
Two things, very few of us can relate to!
What has inspired this writing is the living testimony of these families, in the face of tragedy. The faith and strength of the women in particular, during this time, has touched my heart in a big way!
It’s hard to imagine experiencing such loss and still showing up on Sunday with hands raised in praise and worship over the goodness of God. But that’s exactly what I’ve seen over the last couple weeks from these two ladies.
I’m proud to call them friend and sister, as I know many of you are as well. They haven’t let the broken world we live in, or their trying circumstances, sway their opinions of the goodness of God. And neither should we.
Personally speaking, in the past, it’s taken less in my life to question that goodness. I bet, many of us, at one point or another, have even had the thought, “If God is so good, why do bad things happen to such good people?”
Questions like that, though valid in reasoning, misrepresent just how good, our good, good father actually is.
I’d like to address that train of thought real quickly, just in case you’ve also found yourself questioning God’s goodness at such a time.
It seems to be pretty easy to trust God and to acknowledge His love and goodness when all is right in the world. Not so easy when something undeserving and outlandish takes place.
Here’s the thing, early on in the book of Genesis, and again in Psalms 8:6 and Psalms 115:16, we clearly see that the earth and everything on it, was given unto the authority of man.
Psalms 8:6You have given him (man) dominion over the works of your hands;you have put all things under his feet,
Psalms 115:16 The heavens are the Lord's heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.
So, my short and sweet answer to the “why” question falls on the corrupted state of man, and has nothing to do with the goodness of God.
With that being said, I just had to bring to attention what understanding the goodness of God actually looks like.
In the presence of pain and uncertainty, these particular ladies get it. They understand that not only is God so good in the good times, but His goodness transcends the tough and downright gut wrenching times as well.
When you walk through the fire, with this revelation in your soul, it’s impossible to deny the grace and mercy of our Heavenly Father, always at work for the good of is children (Romans 8:28).
Spend a couple minutes talking to these women (and many others like them) to see for yourselves just how true this is!
I’d like to share a particular scripture that came to mind as I was thinking about all this.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
Here’s the thing, we’re never promised an easy, trouble free life. Even the best of the best will face afflictions, perplexing situations, and persecution. It’s part of the package this side of Heaven.
But take note, though we face trials and tribulations of all kinds, due to the nature of the world we live in, we can stand tall on this specific encouraging word.
As Christians, yes, we may be afflicted, but we won’t be crushed!
Yes, we may be perplexed, but we won’t be driven to despair!
Yes, we may be persecuted, but we won’t be forsaken!
Yes, we may even be struck down but we won’t be destroyed!
Yes, we live in a fallen and broken world, one where sickness, death and destruction run rampant. All due to the will of man, not the will of God, because 2 Peter 3:9 tells us, the will of God is that none shall perish!
It’s the whole reason God came to walk in our shoes as man; to redeem us out of the kingdom of darkness that sin brought and to transfer us back to heavenly places (Colossians 1:13).
I can tell you, from listening to the stories of these 2 families that we serve a good God.
They easily could have lost hope and started blaming instead of trusting. Instead, they stood upon the faith that had been built in their lives. As a result, God has shown up, in a big, big way, to carry them through the fire and to love them through it all.
That’s what we, as a church, want for you too.
It’s why we so often encourage you to step up and serve, and to plug into the small groups and events. Doing so is a great way to build your faith and to witness the goodness of God, firsthand.
We’re all in this together, and I promise you, when you look for the good, surely you will find it! It’s for this reason, we stand, with arms wide open, acknowledging the love and goodness of God, even on the darkest of days. Because He who is in me, is greater than he who is in t
