THANK GOODNESS!!    

          In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.             1 John 4:9-10

          There is a phrase I have often used: “Thank goodness!”  I have used that phrase to express my relief that something has turned out well. But what does that even mean…. to thank “goodness?”  Goodness is the quality or state of being good. So am I thanking goodness for its quality of being good?  At this point, you may be saying, “Good grief!”  (Don’t even get me started on what that means!)  

          What I should be saying instead of “Thank goodness” is “Thank God.”  Anything that is good comes from God because He is good.  We have often said in church, “God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.”  That’s a catchy phrase that sounds nice, but do we really mean it?  If we say that God is good all the time, does that mean even when one we love doesn’t get well?  When we lose our job?  When our spouse walks out?  When our child goes astray?  Then it gets very personal and raw!  I have heard it said that we should never make important decisions when emotions are high.  That’s because we aren’t thinking rationally.  We are thinking emotionally, and emotions don’t have a brain.  I think that’s pretty sound advice considering our emotions often take us on a roller coaster ride with highs and lows that often take us by surprise.  One thing that we have to settle in our rational minds, before our emotions take over, is that God is indeed good all the time.  His goodness is not dependent on circumstances.  How we think or feel does not determine His goodness.  God’s goodness is a constant.  It is who He is, and that will never change.  Another thing we have to settle with our rational minds is that God is love, and His love for us is constant and true.  It does not change with our circumstances. In fact, it doesn’t even change when our love for Him changes.  God doesn’t love us because we are good.  He loves us because He is good.  What a relief!  Let’s thank God that His love for us is not dependent upon us, and He is indeed good all the time.