Oh, my goodness

I am reflecting on the Goodness of God. I am realizing that our current thinking or at least the thinking in evangelical Christian circles is very shallow. When I hear modern Christians talk about the goodness of God it is in very pragmatic ways. It sounds like this - "God is good. God has blessed me with...." The saints of old would find this a very strange perspective. For these saints to speak of the goodness of God is to speak of God's very essence or nature. They do not speak of God's goodness, rather, they speak of the goodness of God. The difference is significant. You can talk about a hurricane's power or the power of a hurricane; the former speaks to the effect or result of the hurricane; the latter speaks to the very nature of a hurricane which is power.

When we experience suffering, we need perspective which speaks of the goodness of God not God's goodness. If we do the latter we search for some meaning in the suffering - a search which may not be ever satisfied. If we move from the perspective of the goodness of God, our suffering becomes revelatory, that is , we can begin to examine where God is to be seen in our suffering. The goodness of God is the ground of our lives including our suffering. - Ronald Friesen (c) 2017