It bothers me when people say "God is good" when someone gives good news. Don't get me wrong. God is indeed good. He is good all the time. He never stops being good. He is good in the good times and the bad times. But people only say he is good when something good happens.
Take it from me. It is much easier to look at the happy times, the times when great things happen, when prayers are answered the way we want. But it is difficult to realize that God is good when bad things happen.
But God is good all the time.
God is good when I had 3 miscarriages in 2 years.
God is good when I got pregnant with Brendan.
God is good when Brendan was born not breathing and taken out of my arms.
God is good when Brendan was transferred 2 hours away to Children's hospital.
God is good when Brendan had heart surgery when he was 10 days old.
God is good when we were told that Brendan's body was not built for this life.
God is good when Brendan passed away in my arms at 97 days old.
God is good when we picked up Brendan's ashes and found out that we were pregnant all in the same day.
God is good when I gave birth to a healthy little baby boy 11 months after his brother was born.
God is good.
He is not good just because we say so. God is good because that is who he is.
We do not understand His goodness because it doesn't fit into our definition.
Our definition is when something happens that we have asked for, when we feel happy with the results of something, when our prayers are answered the way we have hoped.
God's definition is preparing us, making us rely on him, and teaching us daily. Sometimes we have to learn how to live like Christ wants us to by going through hard times. The tough times are there to make us appreciate the good times. Because without hard times, we would never need to rely on God.
And I don't know about you, but I am so thankful for those hard times, because now I truly understand it.
God is Good.
