Forgetting Goodness in Blessings

Sometimes I can just cry at the state of our world. Actually, this morning I did just that. Because, I confess, at times it scares me. Common sense and reason are as fleeting as our liberties and freedom. And while this morning I started in grief, I ended up in glory. Let me share with you how.

I was thinking about the chaos and devastation, and the lawlessness and lunacy in our world. It seems we are bursting at the seams with crazy from within and without. Just spend a few minutes listening to the news and it’s clear: we are being torn apart. Some might say revolution, others say lawlessness, but times they are a changin’. Thanks Bob!

God’s Goodness and Our Blessings

As I was sitting thinking of all this, I became so hungry. What rose in me was desire and appreciation for God’s Great Goodness. My grief became desire for His goodness: true goodness, the goodness that never ceases, and the goodness we will forever experience in eternity. This chaos and violent lawlessness, instead of caving me in, gave way to great appreciation and yearning for the reality of Christ and the goodness of God.

The condition of the USA is like smoke and mirrors. On one hand it’s, “Look at all we have!” while increasingly having absolutely nothing. On the other, we say, “Look how liberated we are!” not seeing just how godless we have become. It’s the smoke and mirrors of ‘good’ without God.

There’s a curse in being a blessed nation. It’s that our satisfaction in those blessings can make us rather sated and less than hungry for God. Blessing can mask itself as goodness. Sayings like “Life is Good” wave like banners across our land. It’s a hypnotic mantra declaring, “Life is good, no really!” All the while, people are forgetting that goodness in this life is only found in God.

Some might say, “Hey, God has blessed us with our blessings. He has established us as a country and showered us with rich blessings and surplus.” And yes, He absolutely has. But it’s always the temptation when being blessed to forget the Bless-er. To begin to fixate on the supply and no longer think that we need our Supplier. This is just typical and very human; sons of Adam always do this. Blessings can eventually lull the blessed to sleep to dream in godless Technicolor. Ta-da!

Our Focus in Goodness and Blessings

My grief in the news had the opposite effect than that which the enemy intended. Instead of sinking into despair, I rose in faith for God’s goodness. As the darkness comes, His Light shines brighter and His children cry, “Come, Lord Jesus, Come!”

May the chaos of the world make us all hungry for the goodness of God!

When you eat and are full, you will praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. “Be careful that you don’t forget the Lord your God by failing to keep His command—the ordinances and statutes—I am giving you today. When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.

…If you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods to worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will perish.
Deuteronomy 8:10-14, 19 HCSB