“O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endures for ever.” –Psalm 118:1
Why do we thank God? This verse tells us simply, “for He is good.” The Bible doesn’t tell us to thank Him when things are going well or the way we expect. There are several verses that direct us to thank Him regardless of the circumstances. There are also many verses and songs about the goodness of God. The difficulties arise when the awful circumstances arrive in our lives. Clinging to the fact that God is good when everything seems to be falling apart is no simple undertaking. People often ask questions like, “How can a good God allow this?” or “Why would this happen if God is truly good?”
There’s never a hard and fast response in such situations; the many intricacies of life are all working together in ways that we typically will never see, let alone comprehend. Isaiah 55:9 says, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Even when it seems that God is doing nothing in these circumstances, we know that He isn’t a God who stands by doing nothing; He is always at work, even when we can’t see it. No one likes to be caught up in the folds of discouragement or grief or loss; these aspects of life are merely a matter of when, not if. Eventually, we all face these hard scenarios, and then we learn about faith. We are driven into the arms of our Savior.
Often in the midst of betrayal or tragedy or other life-altering events, the only safe place is in a refuge–a place where we can express all of our pain and disappointment and hopelessness. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” What is a refuge? It is a place that provides shelter or protection from danger or distress. We have to choose to enter a refuge, to seek shelter, and God will do what He says–even when the storms of life roll in relentlessly. The following verses in Psalm 46 say, “So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge.”
Life will throw us into challenges we don’t want to face–crumbling mountains, roaring oceans, quaking ground. Like the man who built his house on the rock, we defer to our foundation, our refuge who is always with us and for us and working behind the scenes for our good, even when life doesn’t look good. Because He is always good.