He is Good

I put all my hope on the truth of Your promise

And I steady my heart on the ground of Your goodness

When I'm bowed down with sorrow I will lift up Your name

And the foxes in the vineyard will not steal my joy

Because You are good to me

These lyrics are from the song "Good to Me" by Audrey Assad.  They sum up so much of what I've been learning and experiencing the last several weeks.  Sometimes life is hard, and sin - my sin and the sin of others - makes things messy.  I can't tell you how many times I've allowed despair to rule in my heart.  I've chosen not to believe the promise of God's goodness, and focused instead on how much I don't deserve that goodness.

I've been working through how to deal with emotions lately.  Emotions like despair, hurt, and anger.  I most definitely don't have it all figured out, but through it all, God has slowly showed me how to steady my heart on the ground of His goodness.  How to grab hold of His promises even when every feeling inside of me wants to convince me otherwise.  His Word is Truth, and I can stand on it. The hard things and the negative emotions might not disappear, but the promises in His Word are mine to stand on forever.

God has brought the end of Psalm 23 to my attention through several different means in the last week. Verse six says, "Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life..."  Even in hard times, God's goodness is there.  Even when I sin, God's faithful love is pursuing me.  Even when I hurt and my emotions are all over the place, the truth is that I'm not left alone.  I'm not without His goodness and mercy and love.  That's where I can put all my hope.  And that's why my sorrow is not wasted and my joy is not stolen, because through it all, He is good to me.