Early this year, I was wrestling with the idea of the “goodness” of God. I knew what the Bible told me about His goodness but some things in that season of life were so challenging, I was increasingly struggling internally to believe that a loving Father-God was as good as what I was supposed to believe. One particular day in June, I began asking God, every morning in prayer, to show me that He is in fact good and that all the songs we sing about His goodness are true. About the 3rd day in, my daughter and I were debating on whether we should go whale watching. I really did not want to pay the price tag to go knowing the chance to spot wildlife on these types of excursions can be very hit or miss. But, I figured it’s not often we are out in California and if anything, I’d have a nice boat riding memory with my daughter. As we set out to sea, the captain reminded us that he has no control of whether whales will surface but would do his best to take us where whales might be. I silently recalled my prayer to God earlier that day to show me His goodness. My prayer wasn’t one centered on selfish gain but more a sincere prayer of wanting to know God as good, like Scripture says He is. I knew God would choose to answer this request in His own way and timing...but to my astonishment, He chose to blow my mind that day out on the sun-kissed waves of the Pacific. Not only did my daughter and I see 8 whale surfacings in our 2 hour trip but God blew our minds as we witnessed a vary rare dolphin stampede. Our captain told us that he has taken about 5,000 trips out to sea over his lifetime and he’s only witnessed about 30 dolphin stampedes.
My daughter and I got to witness an extraordinary display of God’s “goodness” that day through His creation - and it was only our first trip out! To say God exceeded my expectations of what His goodness could look like was an understatement! I share this for those, who like I was, might be struggling with seeing God as “good” and you need Him to show you He is all He says He is. God is not afraid of our doubts and questions...on the contrary! The Bible says in Hebrew 4:16 CEV to "have confidence, then, and approach God's throne, where there is grace." One reason Jesus wants us to come boldly before Him is He desires to be in deep relationship with us. There is safety in taking the things we don’t understand about Him — to Him in prayer. Psalms 116:1 NIV says, “ I love the Lord, for he heard my voice..” So bring those prayers before a loving God who is waiting and willing to answer... I can’t wait to hear how He chooses to come through and answer your burning questions too!
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