A strange kind of goodness.

Today I thought a lot about how strange it must be (how strange it is) for someone who doesn't know Jesus to look in on my life and agree with the conclusions that I have made about how "good" my God is. On one hand, He has given me so many great things (even by worldly standards) that I don't deserve. On the other, because I believe the truth of the full gospel, I stand firmly by the claim that the same God Who has given me all the great and wonderful things is the same God that has wounded me deeply by allowing tragedy in my life that I never would have asked for or desired. And yet, still I make the claim that He is good - not in spite of the fact that He wounded me - but also because He wounded me. And I could dance around a million words to try and tease all that out, but it really comes down to this: until you know Him, until you have a relationship with Him, until He gives you grace from His hand and invites you into His Almighty presence and fills your heart with His love, you're not actually supposed to get it. That's why it says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God... (Ephesians 2:8-9). God, by the work of the Holy Spirit, brings you into the full understanding of his saving love by giving you the grace to see and understand and comprehend Him enough to love Him. We just aren't able to muster up enough faith within us to trust in Him on our own merit and understanding.


So, just a few hours after having a conversation with one of my CrossFit ladies about this very subject, I ran across this incredibly beautiful and moving song. Not that it will do any better of a job of convincing anyone that God is good, but I do agree with it and like it so much that I wanted to share it anyway.

All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change at all
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found
Could a garden come up from this ground at all

All around
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found in You

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

You make me new, You are making me new
You make me new, You are making me new
You are making me new