Did you know that our time and attention are the most valuable currencies in the world? They are currencies. Companies spend billions, influencers devote their lives, and media compies rise and fall based on getting and keeping our attention. It’s a race for our hearts, emotions, minds, and money. As the world ups the stakes, filling our lives with superlatives, the phrase “God is good” has lost its potency. Maybe it’s time to take a good look at the goodness of our God. God loves us perfectly; unlike the world, he’s not for power or money. At the very core of it all, God is truly good.
You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.
Psalm 119:68
Lukewarm Guilt
I woke up this morning needing help with this blog. I usually know what I’ll write and have at least completed a rough draft, but not today. As I sat in the premature morning darkness of my living room, taking inventory of my soul, my need for a dose of God’s grace became clear. It was no longer about needing help to write, but my desperate need for God’s goodness. Usually, within the week’s events, God teaches, guides, or works something out in me that later becomes the topic of Sunday’s blog. This week was different. I wasn’t at my best, nor at my worst; it was a lukewarm kind of week, and we all know how fond God is of lukewarm (Revelation 3:16). The realization of my need for him became clear. I felt guilty for many things and needed kindness, forgiveness, grace, and I needed God’s unconditional goodness.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning,
Psalm 130:5-6
The Best Cure
God is so much more gracious to me than I am to myself. I soaked in the warmth of God’s kindness with the gentle ease of sipping a hot cup of tea. It was just God and me in the solitude of the predawn living room. The battle of thoughts that fight against God’s love towards me required little effort, no strife. There in his presence, soaking in his goodness, the struggle against distractions was as simple as leaning into him. I wondered how he could be so good to us. It’s because he is Psalm 119:48, he’s good, and he does good. It’s as simple as that. The drama of the world has distracted us from the simple but equally powerful truth of his kindness to us. When we have difficulty believing in his goodness, the best cure is to spend undistracted time in his presence.
19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
2 John 3:19
Distractions and Stillness
Our phones, our t.v., radio, podcasts, audiobooks, or by our task lists, work, hobbies, relationships, and possibilities constantly vie for our attention. It’s exhausting. How easily we are pulled away by our desires, distracted by our ambitions, and turned around by our feelings. Before we know it, we look up and can’t find God. He’s right where we left him. He will never leave us or forsake us; we are the ones who walk away. Psalm 119:68 sounds so simple that we can overlook the power within and the value of God’s goodness. It means that in our weakest, most unlikeable, distracted moments, he is enough. His goodness is priceless, but we can only understand this in those quiet, still moments when we have the blessing of meeting him.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God…
Psalm 46:10
No Adequate Words
When we feel that God has abandoned us, or we don’t feel right within ourselves, it’s the best time to get alone, turn everything off, be still and wait for him. We only need to draw close to him, and he will draw near to us. (James 4:8) He will show up in our lives, and his goodness will awe us. The simple word “Good ” doesn’t seem worthy of describing his love and grace, but come to think of it, no word can come close to being adequate. I pray that we will carve out time to be still before God and experience goodness, unequaled to any distraction of this world.
“The goodness of God is infinitely more wonderful than we will ever be able to comprehend.”
A.W. Tozer
