That I may know Him More

Before I came to know and put my trust in God, there was a tug of war within my soul.  This has been our destiny from the Garden of Eden, when the snake asked Eve, "Did God really say?" Ever since then, good and evil have fought side by side.  So how did I come to trust God? In order to trust Him I need to know that He is good, that He does good and that His desires for me are good.  

How do we know that God is good? The Bible, the book that has stood the test of time and, dare I say our conscience, tell us that He is the source of morality. He made laws for our protection and for our good. However, following our own way,  God's goodness is also evident in His mercy by providing a way for us to come to Him.  The gift of Jesus is the greatest show of His goodness, ultimately the gift of forgiveness and eternal life. This is what we celebrate this weekend.

God made the heavens and the earth and about every thing He made, He said, "it is good." Creation shows us that out of His goodness, He makes good things and He does good. His goodness is shown in a common grace to all mankind.  "For He makes the sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew 5:45. 

So, if God is good, makes good things and does good things, why is there evil in this world? As strange as it sounds, maybe evil allows us to see goodness. In the Garden, Eve was told by the serpent, "you shall surely not die, but your eyes will be opened and you will be as gods, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:4,5

Why would God allow evil? Being only human, we are not in a place where we can't see clearly yet, but there are times when we see a glimpse, and what we see is that He can allow allow evil for a greater good. It may just be a bigger miracle that God can bring healing and redemption from brokenness than if we never needing healing at all. Joseph was sold into slavery, and ended up being the one who saved his family in the end. He told his brothers, "what they had meant for evil, God had meant for good".

Never would I have chosen for my mother to have Alzheimer's. But what I learned in the process and how I was encouraged by her faith may not have happened in any other way. It is in the valleys that we  become more willing to depend on the Lord, and learn that His desires for us are for our good - sometimes only seen in the grand picture. 

These are the truths that spur me on in my faith and desire to know God more.  Psalm 119:68 says, "Thou art good and doest good; teach me your statutes."