The Bible affirms the Lord is good and he loves us. There are times when our circumstances question this.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
Psalm 118v1
The Bible’s statements leave no room for doubt. They also point to the Lord’s purposes.
In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me. I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
Psalm 118v5-7
The Lord stands back to allow our distress because he is looking for our development. Clearly, goodness is something that has to be developed in us! To develop, the writer had to face fear and the prospect of being overwhelmed. His triumph is that he was not swayed by the risk of bad things from doing what was right. Knowing the Lord is with him he will not fear or be manipulated through fear.
I find to my amusement an additional reason for his allowing circumstances is to answer my prayers. I have been asking the Lord to challenge my inner core conceit only to discover that the challenges I am experiencing have done exactly that.
.
.
.
Photo by Ayo Ogunseinde on Unsplash