Goodness of the Lord

Psalm 27:13
I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.


The news is full of the terrible, the tragic, and the painful. We are constantly inundated with images and stories of all that is going wrong in world - bombs in Iraq, tsunamis in South Asia, the murder across town, we are hard-pressed to hear of anything good. And the really tragic part is that the Word of God tells us that it is only going to get worse. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably wondering how it could get any worse, but it will.

So, what can we, as Christians, hold on to? Of course our hope is in Christ, alone, but what about the rest of the world? Will we simply watch as it crumbles away before our very eyes? I don’t believe that we are doomed to simply stand off to the side and watch as the world withers away with no hope. A battle is raging, and as Satan tries to raise the stakes, God raises them just a little bit higher.

Of course, we have to look. We have to keep a look-out to really see how God is working in our midst, but as Christians, God has already given us the eyes to see His hand, if we want to. I take courage and find hope in the fact that God is bringing the world hope in the midst (and many times because) of all that surrounds us. God is the hope the world needs - there is no other cure, no other place to turn for comfort and relief. God alone is the foundation of all that is good. And I believe that as we watch as He allows all that is going on, perhaps bringing judgement upon the world, we will see people turning to Him, repenting, and spreading His message of love and deliverance and hope.

So, what can we do? We can watch for opportunities for God to work His goodness through us - we are His tools, and I want to be used. Don’t you? More importantly, we can pray. We can pray for those in the midst of the tragedies we see, we can pray for those ministering to those people, and we can pray for God’s hand to be revealed. We can pray for revival, and repentance. We can pray and pray and pray - mighty warriors, down on our knees. And as we pray, our hearts will be softened even more to see what God is doing, and in turn we will desire to pray more. We pray, because we truly believe that we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. We will see His goodness, and His love, and His message of hope spread from person to person, starting with us!