A Walk of Faith

God is Good.

Yes.

Agreed.

So, that’s that.

If only that was that and the case was closed and there was no further doubt on the matter. It would be sorted. It would be clear. It would be defined. It would be easy to understand. It would be something that doesn’t need any kind of debate. It would be just simple fact. It is just simple fact. Isn’t it?

What about when things don’t pan out as we’d hoped? What about when the healing doesn’t come? Is God good, then? I’d say, He is. His goodness was never in question, was it? If my thumb hadn’t healed after I chopped a bit off it (by accident, I must add) or if Dad hadn’t gone into remission with the cancer he had, is God still good? Yes. For me, unequivocally, yes. God is good.

With that said, is there not a tendency to make more of God’s goodness when the results are the more positive ones? Is there not a (I guess, natural) tendency to elevate those situations? Do we (the great collective, and not all of those in that collective but some who are in it) not then feel the need to add in the part we played (like we had any real part in the process)? The part that somehow becomes about us? The part that is ‘because we prayed, this, that or the other’?

Jesus taught us to pray, yes. Prayer is a thing. We are indeed taught to ask God for those things we want to be and there are scriptures that instruct us to do so. Yes. Are those prayers powerful and effective? Yes.

However, when we elevate the more positive outcomes only coming to pass because we prayed, we’re onto tricky territory, aren’t we? Is that not making it all about us and not about God? Is that not a covert way of us feeling more secure in our place in God, because now we have ‘evidence’ we are His, because He did as we asked? You are God’s if you choose to be. Simple. And He loves you even if you choose not to be known as His. Simple. Isn’t it?

If God did answer your prayer with a ‘yes’, lovely. Did it have anything to do with you? No. Not really. Where did it sit then? It was with God. It is always with God, isn’t it? Whatever the ‘it’, doesn’t it always sit with God?

If we elevate only the ‘successful’ outcomes, suggesting God is good because we like and agree with the outcome, does the whole thing of faith and belief not then fall down each time we prayed and the answer we hoped for didn’t come into being?

I’m not sure it’s the way to go. Maybe it would be more accurate for me to write that I’m not sure it’s the only way to go. In fact, I think there is weighty Biblical evidence that we are called to maintain our ‘God is good’ stance in the middle of the outcomes that are not so palatable. It seems a bit topsy turvy, maybe, but it is what I believe.

Let’s say we were to ‘witness’ to those who are not yet believers about the miraculous things of God in isolation without ever mentioning the rest of what it is to be a Christian. Would it not be like being told half of the true story with the emphasis only on what people want to hear? Is that not simply deceit? Is that not tricking people into believing in a God who isn’t, because in truth what has been presented is only one small part of who He is?

If that were to be ‘successful’ as a way of opening people to the idea of God as one who saves us from ourselves and from that which would destroy us, what happens when those people find out that it was only half the story? What about when they realise they were lied to by the very people who profess to believe in this miracle-working God?

In truth, true Christian believers who have given their life to God do get sick. True Christian believers live through tricky life scenarios. Things do go on with their family members that are out of their control and might be harmful or hurtful for those family members. They often may not necessarily see a greater good or an outcome they are comfortable with. What then? Will they say God is good then? I think they will. If not initially, then eventually. His goodness is not in question. He is good.

Our God (I believe) is not just a God who heals and who brings freedom or happiness. Does He do those things? Yes. I believe He does. Does He always do those things? No, He does not. Why not? I am comfortable with my reality that I do not have an answer to that ‘why’ question. I realise some are not comfortable with it and that is their journey, but I don’t need an answer. I know I know little, and I know I can only partially see a tiny fraction of all there is to possibly see. If God is God, and I believe He is, then His perspective is going to be infinitely greater and more attuned than mine. No, His perspective will be perfectly attuned. Does that mean there will always be a ‘happy ending’? No. Is that okay? Whether it is okay or not is kind of irrelevant. It’s more about each of us deciding how we want to manage that reality. Isn’t it?

All views are my own, but I do not believe God is a vending machine where we can put in our prayer coin and then choose the product or service we want to have. I would go as far as to say that if we did receive our hopes or visions or aims that way, there would be no need of the kind of faith that is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Yes, that verse in Hebrews 11 may well be more about the life beyond and a God who is no longer present on the planet in bodily form, and it may also cover a wider concept that can affect now too. Things can come ‘into being’ as we believe and have faith for them.

I do believe there is power in prayer. I do believe there is power in what we think and what we speak. I do believe miracles happen. I do believe in the God who was, who is and who will be. I also believe James’s advice is wise:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4, NIV)