“For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” [Psalm 100:5]
SEPTEMBER 1, 1979, IS PERMANENTLY ETCHED in my memory. I had spent the weekend of my twenty-first birthday visiting my family near Philadelphia. On that Saturday afternoon, my parents took me to the airport to catch a flight to Virginia, where I was serving on the staff of a local church.
When I landed in Lynchburg, I received a call from my mother, telling me that my father had suffered a heart attack and instantly had gone to be with the Lord. There was no warning. No time to say final goodbyes. My forty-year-old mother was left with seven children, ages eight to twenty-one.
The tears flowed freely in the days, weeks, and months that followed. But in that moment when I first learned of my dad’s home going, the Lord did something especially gracious for me—He reminded me of the truth. Before there was any other conscious thought, before the flood of tears was released, He brought to mind a verse I had read not many days earlier. Paraphrased, it said: “God is good, and everything He does is good” (Ps. 119:68).
My dad had spent the first twenty-one years of my life teaching me this truth. And now, at that crucial moment, the truth proved to be a fortress for my heart. I missed my dad terribly—I still miss him, these many years later. I never had a chance to know him as an adult daughter. There are so many things I wish we could have talked about.
But I knew then, and I am even more sure now, that God is good, and everything He does is good. When sight, sense, and emotions scream to the contrary, this is the bedrock truth that will always prove to be an unshakable foundation for our hearts.
Once we dismiss, discount, or doubt the goodness of God, where can that lead us? How can you cultivate deeper trust in the goodness of God? [The Quiet Place]
