Denise K. Loock shares with us, "I’ve been grappling with God’s goodness lately,
 |
| Amputation? |
Not the 'let me massage your feet' variety—dinner with friends, an encouraging email, an answered prayer—blessings that I immediately recognize and embrace.
No. I’ve been wrestling with the 'looks like I’ll have to amputate goodness.
The kind that pierces my spirit…a friend’s betrayal, the loss of a job, an emphatic 'no' to a prayer request.
Wounds that disable me and send me scurrying for shelter.
The kind that pierces my spirit…a friend’s betrayal, the loss of a job, an emphatic 'no' to a prayer request.
Wounds that disable me and send me scurrying for shelter.
God’s definition of goodness is so different than mine that I often don’t recognize it.
In my dictionary, goodness generates smiles, laughter, and relaxation.
Goodness prompts me to say, 'Wow! I’m so glad to be God’s child. He’s so good to me.
In my dictionary, goodness generates smiles, laughter, and relaxation.
Goodness prompts me to say, 'Wow! I’m so glad to be God’s child. He’s so good to me.
But God’s goodness is much more complex than that.
His goodness is always focused on eternity—preparing me for heaven, purifying me so that I look just like Jesus when I walk through heaven’s gates.
That’s the reason His goodness looks like badness sometimes.
His goodness is always focused on eternity—preparing me for heaven, purifying me so that I look just like Jesus when I walk through heaven’s gates.
That’s the reason His goodness looks like badness sometimes.
Think of a surgeon’s relationship to a patient.
If the patient’s foot is so infected that it cannot be healed, the surgeon’s brand of goodness requires amputation—pain, loss, excruciating therapy, and a new normal.
If the patient’s foot is so infected that it cannot be healed, the surgeon’s brand of goodness requires amputation—pain, loss, excruciating therapy, and a new normal.
That’s what God’s goodness mandates for us sometimes: amputating infectious passions, habits, and philosophies that threaten our spiritual well-being.
Allowing God to cut out my prideful actions, my judgmental attitudes, and my self-centered habits is essential.
But extremely painful.
But extremely painful.
Paul told the Romans that despising God’s goodness was indicative of a hardened, rebellious heart.
To despise something is to scorn it, to trample it underfoot, to consider it worthless.
To despise something is to scorn it, to trample it underfoot, to consider it worthless.
How do I respond when God says to me, 'Looks like we’ll have to amputate'?
Do I trust Him, confident that He’s doing what’s best for me or do I scorn His diagnosis and refuse to let Him operate?
Do I trust Him, confident that He’s doing what’s best for me or do I scorn His diagnosis and refuse to let Him operate?
One of the clearest indications my relationship with God is healthy is my response to His goodness.
Both varieties. Foot massages and amputations.
What does God’s goodness look like in your life today? Respond to Him."
Both varieties. Foot massages and amputations.
What does God’s goodness look like in your life today? Respond to Him."
"Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" Romans 2:4 NKJV
God’s Goodness – Denise Loock
Photo courtesy of microsoft.com free image gallery
Denise Loock is a freelance writer, editor, and speaker. She’s the author of two devotional books, Open Your Hymnal and Open Your Hymnal Again, and the founder of Dig Deeper Devotions, a website dedicated to encouraging and enabling Christians to dig deeper into God’s Word.
She is also the editor of The Journey Christian Newspaper, www.journeychristiannews.com
(Father, help me trust You, confident that You're doing what’s best for me in every situation, no matter what.)
Tomorrow’s
post: Master Designer Mary Southerland
Today’s
treasure truth #38: If you are “born again”, you are an imitator of Jesus. Eph. 5:1
Our
thought for today: There's more mercy in God's Heart than all your sin.
No comments:
Post a Comment