worship

It’s easy to become jaded as we experience disappointments in life. We may think that God has abandoned us or is minimally involved in caring for us and the rest of the world. A certain way of thinking about God can seep into our lives. We may never say it out load, but our inner voice starts to say, “Maybe, God isn’t as good as I once thought. Why would a good God allow this to happen to me or on a larger scale, why does he allow global injustices to persist?”

Many biblical passages herald God’s goodness. Here’s a small sample:

Psalm 145:9 - “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”

Psalm 34:8 - “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”

Psalm 33:5 - “The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.”

God’s goodness points to His unending generosity. He is for His creation. He is actively involved in caring for and blessing humans, the pinnacle of His creative work, but the rest of His creation, as well. This means that God’s purposes are good purposes; He has creation’s best interests in mind.

Now, of course, God in His sovereignty chose to allow sin to enter humanity. He gives us the freedom to choose for or against Him and His desires for us. This doesn’t undermine God’s goodness. What it does is it gives people a choice to follow or not follow His good path. Regardless of the choices we make, God continues to pour out His goodness on His creation – a creation hurt by sin.

The ultimate expression of God’s goodness was the gift of His son, Jesus. Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, so that we might have eternal life. That’s God’s generous goodness in action.

The fact that we live in a well-ordered universe and on a planet that contains so much beauty and potential is an ongoing demonstration of God’s goodness.

Every day, we’re recipients of God’s good gifts. Indirectly, through all that God has embedded in His creation, like the ability to communicate, and through the advancements we’ve made in tending His creation, like listening to music that stirs our hearts. We’re also direct beneficiaries of His goodness as God answers our prayers, often doing far more than we could ever ask or imagine, when God leads us to repentance, forgives our sins as we confess them to Him, protects us from danger or supports us as we experience trials, and supplies us with unending resources to live life well for Him. That’s our good God.

As I started working on this content on Worshipping God as Wise, I had just come off a phone call with a church leader. His church was facing some significant issues – complicated, messy issues that defied simple solutions.

When we face these kinds of multi-layered scenarios that often feature competing interests and conflict, what a comfort to know that Someone, an all-wise Someone, knows what’s happening and can help us navigate through the maze of possible responses.

Even after Job lost everything, he acknowledged God’s wisdom and might in Job 12:13: “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.” Paul refers to God as the only wise God in Romans 16:27. Yet, often, our human minds cannot fully grasp what God is doing or wants to do in and through what may appear to be utter chaos to us.

Let the words of Isaiah 55:8-13 sink in, words about God’s wisdom, purposefulness, and sovereignty:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.”

Pause for just a moment. What does that verse mean to you right now?

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

How does this truth about God speak to a messy situation in your life or in the life of someone you know?

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

How do these verses bring hope to a thirsty part of your soul today?

“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”

Throughout Scripture, we see a God who deeply loves us.

Within God’s covenant relationship with the Israelites, the Lord says, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed" (Isaiah 54:10).

The Psalmist says in Psalm 86:15, “But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” And in Psalm 136:26, “Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.”

In fact, John says in 1 John 4:7-8 that God is love. His ultimate expression of love was to send Jesus, His only son, to live among sinful humanity and to ultimately die for our sins.

What happens when we truly, from deep down in our hearts, worship God as the One who loves us with a deep, unending love – an unconditional love that forgives, comforts, restores, guides, and empowers. A love that always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres - a love that never fails.

Wow! God loves us with that kind of love. You see, as we grow in our worship of God, the reality of who He is sinks deeper into our minds and hearts. We are changed by the knowledge of who God is as it moves beyond a cognitive acknowledgement to a heartfelt conviction.

God’s love says that you and I are completely, unconditionally, irrevocably accepted by God.

Now, how does that knowledge influence the way we live and lead?

Let’s take a look at a story from John 13. In this story, Jesus did the unthinkable…again.