Reason #358
I got to have brunch with one of my dearest friends today. I hadn't seen her for a few weeks, so we had a lot of ground to cover this morning. She has been one of my biggest supporters over the past year, as she made a point to be there every step of the way. She has listened, cheered me up, sent me encouraging notes, and spoiled me with her friendship. As I shared with her the full proposal story, she just sat there and gave God all the glory for what He has done in my life. She said, "I just knew 2013 was going to be a good year for you." And she talked about how she had seen God's goodness play out through this journey I've been on in a very tangible way. She made it a point to say that God's promises are true. True and very, very real.
Sometimes we get big heads, right? We think we've done a really good job. We've worked hard, we've done everything right, so we've earned what we have. Maybe it is in the form of tangible things, but maybe it's also in the form of power, recognition, prestiege, accolade, or good fortune. We take ownership for what good has come, often times being so naive to think that we brought this upon ourselves. Thinking somehow, someway, we made this happen. And so pride begins to grow as we feel so proud of ourselves and what all we've accomplished. We knew that if we hung in there, worked hard enough, and gave it our all, we'd achieve whatever it was we were going after.
But here's the truth, there isn't a good thing we have that God did not give to us. Tangible or not, God is the one who deserves all the glory for the good things in our lives. And often times when things aren't going our way, when we're trying and trying and it just isn't making a difference, it's because we've forgotten where good things come from. In our quest to create good things for ourselves, the pride we cultivated over time often helps bring more calamity into our lives than anything else.
I was really guilty of this. Really guilty of feeling so proud of myself. Proud of living life in a particular way. And because of this, I just knew that I had rightfully earned and deserved really good things. I, too, began to forget that all good things come from above, and I started to depend on my own self to achieve these things. Things that I, in my mind, deserved and felt responsible for making happen. I had a big head, and I'm not just literally speaking. As with all man-made things, it feel apart at the seams. Our ideas of good are skewed. Our vision, limited, and we often mistake good for good enough.
Well, I eventually ended up having only one choice. I had to believe that God was good. Regardless of the things around me, of how they were turning out despite my best efforts, I had to believe He was still good. And I had to believe His promises were, too. There are a lot of things I love about God, a lot, but one of my favorite things about Him is that He is a man of His word. And so one of those good promises was that He would honor faithfulness. I didn't know what that meant exaclty. I also didn't know what that looked like, but I knew that God was good to always follow through with His promises. Over and over, I would remind myself that all things work together for the good. And so I just clung to Him and did my best to do whatever it was He asked me to do. I didn't always like it, I didn't always want to, but I wanted whatever good thing He had in store for me so I hung in there with Him.
I can honestly say I now realize all good things in my life were given to me by God. Because I've not done a thing to deserve them. If anything, I've done more to not deserve them. But God has provided in so many different ways for me to have a life filled with good things. Some tangible things, some not. Some more obvious than others. Some visible to the eye, and some that can only be felt. But all good things because He is a good God who is good for His word. And I'm grateful to have seen this first hand. To know and understand that God's goodness is real. It isn't some fabricated, nice idea that was thought up long ago. Rather, He lavishes His goodness upon us day in and day out. In fact, each breath is a testimony of His goodness. And His word is not only good, but it's true. So I'm grateful to serve a God who is not only good, and good to us, but a God who is always good to keep His promises everytime.
#358 - Because He is good to keep His promises to us.
"Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me." - Psalm 103:2
Sometimes we get big heads, right? We think we've done a really good job. We've worked hard, we've done everything right, so we've earned what we have. Maybe it is in the form of tangible things, but maybe it's also in the form of power, recognition, prestiege, accolade, or good fortune. We take ownership for what good has come, often times being so naive to think that we brought this upon ourselves. Thinking somehow, someway, we made this happen. And so pride begins to grow as we feel so proud of ourselves and what all we've accomplished. We knew that if we hung in there, worked hard enough, and gave it our all, we'd achieve whatever it was we were going after.
But here's the truth, there isn't a good thing we have that God did not give to us. Tangible or not, God is the one who deserves all the glory for the good things in our lives. And often times when things aren't going our way, when we're trying and trying and it just isn't making a difference, it's because we've forgotten where good things come from. In our quest to create good things for ourselves, the pride we cultivated over time often helps bring more calamity into our lives than anything else.
I was really guilty of this. Really guilty of feeling so proud of myself. Proud of living life in a particular way. And because of this, I just knew that I had rightfully earned and deserved really good things. I, too, began to forget that all good things come from above, and I started to depend on my own self to achieve these things. Things that I, in my mind, deserved and felt responsible for making happen. I had a big head, and I'm not just literally speaking. As with all man-made things, it feel apart at the seams. Our ideas of good are skewed. Our vision, limited, and we often mistake good for good enough.
Well, I eventually ended up having only one choice. I had to believe that God was good. Regardless of the things around me, of how they were turning out despite my best efforts, I had to believe He was still good. And I had to believe His promises were, too. There are a lot of things I love about God, a lot, but one of my favorite things about Him is that He is a man of His word. And so one of those good promises was that He would honor faithfulness. I didn't know what that meant exaclty. I also didn't know what that looked like, but I knew that God was good to always follow through with His promises. Over and over, I would remind myself that all things work together for the good. And so I just clung to Him and did my best to do whatever it was He asked me to do. I didn't always like it, I didn't always want to, but I wanted whatever good thing He had in store for me so I hung in there with Him.
I can honestly say I now realize all good things in my life were given to me by God. Because I've not done a thing to deserve them. If anything, I've done more to not deserve them. But God has provided in so many different ways for me to have a life filled with good things. Some tangible things, some not. Some more obvious than others. Some visible to the eye, and some that can only be felt. But all good things because He is a good God who is good for His word. And I'm grateful to have seen this first hand. To know and understand that God's goodness is real. It isn't some fabricated, nice idea that was thought up long ago. Rather, He lavishes His goodness upon us day in and day out. In fact, each breath is a testimony of His goodness. And His word is not only good, but it's true. So I'm grateful to serve a God who is not only good, and good to us, but a God who is always good to keep His promises everytime.
#358 - Because He is good to keep His promises to us.
"Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me." - Psalm 103:2
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