God is good.

Often times, I’ll pull out my notes on my phone and scribble down incomplete thoughts, words I feel like the Lord is writing on my heart, sometimes even just one word, or things or places or ways I saw God that day. Things I don’t want to forget. Always with the intention to go back and write more about it or ask God what it means or why He said it. But also, often times, I don’t. Often times I forget. So in thinking and praying about what to write here, I heard God tell me to go back and look at my notes. So I did. And on December 18th I have a note that says ‘God is good’. That’s it.

Simple. Profound. True.

We all know what the word “is” means and how to use it, right? Actually, I think the truthis we know what it means and how to use it before we really know what itmeans and how to use it. (Y’all rolling with me here?) The word “is” actually means “be.” And, by definition, the word “be” means to exist, to occur, to take place, to occupy a position in
space, to attend to, to come, and to go. It’s having the state, quality, identity, nature, orrole as something or someone. God IS good. God BE good. Everything God does, everything He is, everything He allows will be used for, every place He inhabits, His very nature, who He is… good.

Oh my heart! So true. I don’t remember where I was or what I was doing when I wrote “God is good” in my notes, but for some reason at 8:42 in the morning, I wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget. And friends, don’t we all need to remember, to not forget, that God is good. I grew up in a church where we repeated this phrase to the preacher, “God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.” As I’m sure most of you who grew up in a church going home did. And I get it. I really get it. God IS good. But what I also know, is that really and truly, we need this reminder. Especially when so much of everything around us is trying to convince us otherwise. It’s something we need to say and repeat and let fill our minds and our hearts until we believe it to be true to the very core of who we are. So then we act out of the belief that God is good. So that our very lives look different, so they looklike God is good. Before “good” is visible to our natural eye.

I want my life—my actions—to reflect my belief that God is good even when–especially when–my circumstances don’t necessarily say so. When my heart is heavy, when my eyes, tired, when my mom is sick, my dad out of work, or maybe working too much, my sister is lost, a relationship broken. When all last resorts have been exhausted and there’s no more money in the bank or gas in the tank. When I don’t feel like putting my feet on the floor to face one more day. The list could go on and on, you fill in your own blank here… It’s in those times that I want to know and want others to see– taste and see–that God is good. To know that God “be” good and all He does and who He is, “is” good. Even in the midst of whatever it is you’re
walking through or feel “stuck” in, others can see you and think, “Man, God is good.” Not because everything is perfect, not because everything seems perfect, not because of anything on the outside, but because of the way you reflect the image of the Father even when…even still.

That your heart may be broken, but you still choose to love others with your words and with your actions.That even when you have bills up to your stuffy nose, you still tip the waiter well. Even though you’ve been waiting on ‘the one’ for years and all your friends are getting married and you feel skipped over, you still celebrate them and you celebrate them well. When you didn’t get accepted into the school of your choice, you still trust and know and rest assured that God’sin that. There’s a reason and He’s there and all over it and for you and working behind the scenes in ways you may never know. When your doctor tells you there’s no way you’ll carry your own baby, but you continue to faithfully show up and serve in the kids church even though it hurts, believing that God is not a cruel God who would ask you to do something that blessing isn’t on the other side of. That even though you can’t see it ten fold YET, you still tithe 10% because you know that God is your provider. When God asks crazy faith of you, to step out and do something that doesn’t make sense, and quite literally may look stupid, that you do it and wholeheartedly obey because Him asking you is reason enough. When God tells you to put an end to the relationship you’ve been living in, you do it with sweaty palms and a lump in your throat and a broken heart, knowing that God isn’t a God who withholds good things from His children.

In all of those things, with a decided, joyful heart, with kind eyes and gentle words, you
do what God asks you to do. Your feet firmly planted in faith. Your arms raised high in
reckless abandon. Your heart surrendered at the feet of the One who blesses, not for
blessing, but because you know the One who is the blessing. Because you know the One who’s very being is good.

What if we really did know before we thought we knew that God is good? And what if our lives reflected the goodness of God in the most simplistic, beautiful way?
And what if we know before we think we know, before we see it, before the miracle, before the breakthrough, before the healing, before the relationship, before the restoration, the job, the promise fulfilled…the goodness of a loving Father.

Sarah Tucker is the owner of Imago Dei in Franklin, TN, where the heart behind the shop is to point people back to Jesus and serve as a reminder to everyone who visits that they are made in the image of God. She loves drinking coffee, long country drives, and spending time with her friends and family!

Follow Sarah on Instagram @sarahatucker