Is God A Good God?

Perkins Pancake House, on the east edge of Fort Dodge, was quiet that cool March morning at 7 a.m. Three other men and I sat in a booth toward the back of the restaurant. Five or six people sat scattered here and there throughout the place. Dave had invited me to his men’s breakfast fellowship.

The waitress brought us coffee and took our orders. In the midst of the clanking of spoons and coffee cups, Dave said five words that forever changed my life. The words were the opening clause for a statement he spoke and was not even his main emphasis.

“God is a good God…” Dave said.

He went on to make his point, but I did not hear him. The words − “God is a good God” − echoed through my mind. Up until that moment, I had not considered whether God was a good God. He was my Lord, my Savior, my Shepherd, my Master, my Life, and so forth, but was He a good God? Did He really care about me? Did He have my best interests in mind? Did He love me regardless of what I did? Was He good toward me?

I sat there batting these thoughts back and forth. Then an idea stuck in the walls of my mind: my earthly dad was a good father. He loved me no matter what I did. He always wanted to talk with me. He was always willing to help me. I could not ask for a better father in the whole world.

Using simple logic, I reckoned that if my dad was a good father then God has to be a better one. Thus, God is a good God.

This simple revelation, which occurred nine months after my salvation, has been a major part of my Christian foundation since that morning. I now understand that no matter what I may go through, what I may suffer at God’s hand, or what the enemy may do to me, God means it for good in my life. He is my Daddy who is head over heels in love with me. He would never allow anything to happen to me, which would hinder our relationship.

 

What if a person does not have a good dad like mine? What if the person’s dad is an abusive father, an alcoholic, murderer, thief, or a dad who was never there for the individual as a role model? Is that person then relegated to never having a revelation that God is a good God?

The quick answer is “no.”

God chooses the manner in which He reveals Himself to believers.

He chose to use my dad to reveal His goodness to me, but He could use numerous ways to reveal Himself to other believers. He is the Creator and His deepest desire is to reveal His heart to people, especially that He is for us and never against us. He is a good God.

If you do not have this revelation of God, ask Him. He will be delighted to answer your prayer.

(Excerpt from The Hunt for Larry Who by Larry Nevenhoven, 2014, an Amazon eBook)