Is God Still Good? How to Taste God's Goodness When Life Seems Bitter
8 Scriptural practices to encourage your heart
Sometimes life is sweet.
Your job is going well. You feel great. Your relationships are wonderful. You’re savoring the sweet goodness of life and it’s easy to say, “God is good!”
But sometimes life tastes bitter because of difficult circumstances, loss and disappointment. Is God still good? You know, in your head, that He is. But you're just not feeling it.
How can you be practically assured of God’s goodness and lean into that truth when life is hard?
What is goodness?
Before we go further, let’s talk about what we mean by “goodness.” It’s easy to say that a fancy car or a gourmet meal is “good” but that’s just a relative rating to personal taste. Goodness is not meant to be subjective. It’s a description for someone of “favorable character” or something that is right, wholesome, dependable and sound.*
So now that we know what true goodness means, how do we define God’s goodness?
What is God’s goodness?
The goodness that defines and describes God's character in Scripture is only achievable by Him. Jesus said, “Only God is truly good” (Mark 10:18b, NLT). Here are a few of the ways that God’s goodness is defined in the Bible:
- God is true. God’s goodness is not just “right” for certain situations. His goodness is the immovable, unchangeable, infallible truth (John 14:6, Revelation 15:3).
- God is pure. Unlike our earlier definition of goodness, God is not merely “wholesome” like a kids movie. God’s goodness is absolutely pure and holy (1 Samuel 2:2).
- God is faithful. God’s goodness goes beyond human or even supercomputer dependability. God’s goodness means He is always faithful in spite of any possible circumstance or human failure to comply with His will (Deuteronomy 7:9).
- God is the source. God is not “well-made” like a handcrafted Stradivarius violin — He is the Creator of the universe and everything in it (Genesis 1:1, John 1:3).
Eight ways to taste God’s goodness even on a bad day
Bad days happen. When you’re faced with a salty person or a sour situation, these eight practices can help you break through the bitterness and taste God’s goodness:
1. Give thanks to God, our ultimate good.
Psalm 136:1 says, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever” (NLT). Giving thanks to our good God immediately takes our minds off of ourselves and our circumstances. In that moment of thanks there’s an incredible realization that you — with limited goodness — are unconditionally loved by a God who's always completely good and has “plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11, NLT).
At Wycliffe, we regularly practice gratitude for all God is doing to move Bible translation forward. And we’re thankful for people like you who step in to join this global movement.
2. Enjoy God’s good creation.
In Genesis 1:31, God declared everything He had made as good. The beauty of His creation stirs us when we enjoy a beautiful sunset, walk a wooded trail, spot an eagle, smell a flower or taste a ripe berry off the vine. Getting outside and marveling at what God has created for your pleasure resets your heart and is even scientifically proven to even help heal a troubled mind. Psalm 104 is a great reminder of God’s glory in creation, so reflect on that while you enjoy it!
We’ve been all over the world and have witnessed the beauty of God’s creation and the amazing people He loves, like the Wanca Quechua church in the Andes Mountains of Peru.
3. Count your good things (aka blessings).
If you’ve ever moved and had to pack, you probably realized that you own a lot of stuff. While things alone can’t bring you happiness, they can show you that you have a lot for which you can thank God. James 1:17 tells us that everything “good and perfect” comes from God.
So look around you, beyond your stuff at your loved ones, your church, your community. It’s amazing to realize that we have blessings, even in trials.
To say that chocolate is good is an understatement! Meet a community in Ghana that grows cocoa but has found something better to savor: God speaking to them in their language.
4. Hope in God’s eternal goodness.
What a relief it is to know that our broken bodies and world isn’t all there is! Because of Jesus, you can spend eternity with God enjoying the sweetness of His goodness. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 lays it out clearly: “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (NLT). That’s not just a good outcome, it’s the best!
5. Be good to others.
Another way to take our eyes off ourselves is to help others. Make someone else’s day: pay it forward in the coffee line, smile at a stranger, compliment a coworker, volunteer for God’s Kingdom. It’s amazing how it makes you feel when you’ve made a difference in someone else’s life! Hebrews 13:16 actually commands us to do good to others; it’s not just a one-off request, it’s a godly lifestyle!
The Keliko of South Sudan have known incredible hardship living as refugees away from their homeland, but they have discovered the secret of joy in trials.
6. Keep your eyes on the Good Shepherd.
The Bible compares people to sheep, which isn’t the most complimentary comparison. We’re not the smartest, we can’t protect ourselves, sometimes we stink and we tend to wander into danger. By keeping your eyes on Jesus, our Good Shepherd, we stay on track. He teaches us, protects us from the enemy, sanctifies us and guides us. He’s capable of shepherding us, our friends, our loved ones and everyone on the planet who trusts in Him.
Wycliffe’s founder, Cam Townsend, was reminded of Jesus’ parable about the shepherd who sought the one lost sheep. So, he decided that we wouldn’t overlook small communities that need the Bible in a language they can understand.
7. Pray through the goodness of Scripture.
The promises in God’s Word sustain us when there are no “answers” in the moment. Bad news — or just reading the news — can be so discouraging that it’s hard to know what even to ask God. When your spirit is groaning inside of you and you just don’t have the words, you can simply pray Scripture back to God.
8. Share the Good News.
Find opportunities to share the gospel with those around you. As you share the hope of eternal life, you’ll be filled with the joy of your own salvation. Around the world today, so many people are unaware of the Good News, and millions are still waiting for a single word of Scripture in a language that touches their hearts. You can change a life for eternity by helping churches translate the Bible for their communities!
See what happens in churches when the Word is presented in the local language.
Life circumstances aren’t always sweet. But thankfully our God is good and he makes life sweet even in the hardest of times.
We pray these eight practices will encourage you and keep you tasting God’s goodness every day. And we’d like to invite you to join us to pray for men, women and children around the world who are waiting for the sweetness of Scripture in their language.
*Source: Merriam-Webster
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