A Word to Live Into

The area where I live was once a farm. When it was developed into a residential area, they retained some land for farming. It is fun to drive by the farmland in the fall and witness the wonder of the harvest. You may be noticing some of the abundance of the harvest near you - piles of pumpkins, fresh apples, produce from a nearby farm, or just an overall sense of bounty as you think ahead to Thanksgiving. The harvest overflows with blessing, with goodness.

Goodness is a word that can be easily overlooked, yet when you experience it, goodness is like the thing you’ve always needed but never knew how to ask for.  Goodness is kindness, generosity, honesty, integrity, and compassion. Goodness is the stranger who welcomes you and becomes a friend; the door of opportunity that opens and provides a way.

Sometimes we can look for goodness in the wrong places. We may want to look good. We may want to feel good. We may want to do good. God wants us to be good. (1)

I see goodness when I look out my window. I see goodness in my husband. I see goodness in my children. I am aware of the goodness of God’s presence with me on good days and bad days.

Goodness gets at the essence of something. There is goodness present even when no one is around to see it. Goodness is also something you can become after being with Jesus. It is a fruit of the Spirit. Goodness can arise from your character, from the core of your being. You don’t have to do anything or achieve anything to experience goodness. True goodness is from God.

There is goodness all around us. Goodness is a steady, gentle rain after a long dry spell. Goodness is a provision that is granted unexpectedly, warming your heart and sometimes changing everything. Goodness is the heart behind that laugh that comes from deep within. Goodness is the gentle ripple of love that opens unbidden, like a tree suddenly aflame with autumn colors, or a spring bud suddenly in full bloom.

God’s goodness is a major headline in the Bible. (2) We learn who God is: “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,” (Ex 34:6). And because God is both holy and good, God is approachable. We can taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8) We can receive the compassion he showers on all his creation, knowing He is good to everyone. (Ps145:9)

In what may be one of the most familiar passages in the Bible, Psalm 23, we learn that  God’s “goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life.” The word follow here in the psalm does not mean to tag along behind, but to pursue. (3)  Consider this for a moment. In the middle of a Tuesday or Thursday, or any other ordinary day, God’s goodness is pursuing you. God is with you. God’s steady kindness and support - his goodness is seeking you. That is good.

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1. Hidden in Plain Sight by Mark Buchanan

2. Max Lucado uses this phrase

3. Kidner Classic Commentaries: Psalms 1-72, Derek Kidner

How to live into the word goodness —

1. Take a moment and record any good thing in your life. Look back at what you wrote, enjoy, and give thanks for the goodness in your life.

2. Notice, is there a person you know who characterizes goodness? How do they live out goodness? How could you be like that person?

3. A common theme in the Old Testament is a call to worship and praise God: “O give thanks to the Lord for He is good, his steadfast love endures forever.” (Ps 136;1-3; 1 Chron 16:34). Take some time each day to praise God for his goodness.