Clinging to God's Goodness
For years, nothing in King David’s life looked “good.” His family underestimated him, giants despised him, and his father in law spent years trying to kill him. But the whole time, David clung to a promise that God would establish him, and make him king of Israel.
David never gave up or gave in—he stayed close to God, and waited for Him to act. And when God acts, this is how David responds:
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
1 Chronicles 16:34 NIV
Despite the pain David endured, he knew that even when life didn’t look good, he still served his good God. And this same God actively fights for us.
Through His Son, Jesus, He has given us continual access to Himself. We can never lose His unfailing love toward us—a love that endures forever, no matter what goes on around us.
David recognized this, and proclaimed it. And every day, we have the opportunity to do the same thing.
Here are 2 practical ways we can respond to God’s goodness and love:
Thank Him in Prayer
When Jesus was teaching His disciples to pray, he told them to start like this: “Our Father in heaven, help us to honor Your name.” It’s fine to ask God for things, but real relationships include both take and give. So at least once a day for the next week, go to God in prayer, and thank Him for something He’s done, without asking Him for anything in return.
Share Your Story
The writer of Hebrews encourages us to honor God by “proclaiming our allegiance to his name” (Hebrews 13:15-16). So what has God done for you? Where have you seen Him provide, protect, show up, or show off through your life? Look for natural opportunities to share what God is doing in you with someone else.
Right now, reflect on your life and thank God for His eternal goodness. Nothing you have faced or will face is too much for the God who loves you and died for you. Bring Him your concerns, surrender your expectations, and allow Him to reveal the evidence of His goodness in your life.
Are You Ready?
The greatest measure of who we are and what we love is how we spend our time.
Where do you spend most of your time? Most of us spend our days with family, at work, or on hobbies. All of those are important things that we should invest in, but Jesus says there’s another thing that we need to spend time doing.
There are a lot of different ideas people have for when Jesus will return but, ultimately, Jesus says that nobody will know the time and date. He will come at a time when we least expect Him.
So until He does come, He says that we should be ready. We tend to spend most of our time working on finding the right career, or pursuing certain relationships, or building wealth and possessions. And yet, none of those things will prepare us for when Jesus returns.
So what can we do to prepare?
The first thing is to put your faith in Jesus, by believing that He gave His life so that you could have eternal life. Next, commit to spending time with Him, confessing your mistakes and ...