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"His greatness outshines my view of His goodness all the time."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 94.
This quote can make it sound like this is a fact in my life. It sounds as though I'm saying that I always see and appreciate God's greatness more than I do His goodness. Honestly, that just isn't the case all the time. It is when the challenges of life come against me that God's greatness can take a back seat to my need to see His goodness happen in and around me. Let me explain that a bit more as it relates to living this life as a victor.
You see, God is a good God. This is a fact that is spelled out, time and time again in the Bible. In fact, I believe God's Word tells us that Satan's main objective is to get us to doubt God's goodness in our lives? Why would the devil implement this strategy? I believe that it is because if we can't hold on to the hope that God is good, there is no use in having any belief in a God at all.
Maybe that's why being an agnostic or an atheist is such a viable alternative to faith in God. It is so easy to simply refuse to believe in a loving God when so much of what we see happening in life points to the fact that goodness can't possibly be part of this, so called, God of love. Satan has done a magnificent job of implementing his primary plan of attack when we come to doubting God's goodness.
We fall right into Satan's plan of attack when we let our circumstances be a part of defining what a good life is to look like. It is when we look to the results of those things we do as proof of who this God is in our lives that goodness becomes something that drives us away from God rather than push us toward Him.
But, then there is the issue of God's greatness. You see what gets us into trouble is thinking that God is great because God is good. Applying that kind of thinking into you life plays right into Satan's hands. God isn't great because He is good to you and to me. He is great because He is God. It is when we start to be touched by God's greatness that His goodness is so much easier to accept, even when bad times come our way.
God is great whether we are doing well in life and God is great when things take a bad turn in our lives. His goodness doesn't prove His greatness - it just helps make His greatness something easier to believe when bad times come our way. As we mature into the kinds of victors God sees us to be, we are better able to hold onto His greatness when goodness seems to be so lacking in our lives.
For today's Bible reading I want us to consider two verses. One speaks to God's goodness. The other speaks to His greatness. Let's look at God's word together now. The first verses says.
O Lord, you are so good and kind, so ready to forgive, so full of mercy for all who ask your aid. Psalm 86:5 (TLB)
How do you feel when you hear that verse? Isn't there a warmth that comes over you? Can't you just smell the goodness of God like the aroma of fresh baked cookies wafting through your home? Goodness, particularly goodness like described above is so comforting. It is so easy to see why goodness is so attractive. It makes us feel good with the kind of good that touches us deep into our soul. Now consider the following verse on God's greatness.
“O Lord God,” I cried out; “O great and awesome God who keeps his promises and is so loving and kind to those who love and obey him! Hear my prayer! Nehemiah 1:5 (TLB)
Feel the difference in that verse? Where the goodness verse feels warm and cuddly, this verse makes me want to stand at attention. There is an authority that can't be missed in these words. Though the word "love" is mentioned in today's reading, it isn't the kind of cuddly and comfortable love that I want goodness to be all about.
The reality is that for the victor to live in the power God sees for our lives, goodness and greatness have to be connected in a way that comes from perspective. Goodness doesn't prove greatness. Goodness is empowered by greatness. It is when we see the power of God coming from how great He is that the definition of what is the goodness of God can be viewed in a life changing way in our world.
Victim thinking happens when we let our circumstances be the driving force as to what God's goodness is to look like in our lives. Do you see how limiting that is to God, that last statement describing God's goodness? If we demand that God's goodness be exactly what we say it needs to be based on what we need in this life then we put God in a box where greatness has to be sacrificed by this great God. That's just not a place where He will stay for long. He won't stay there because it isn't the best for us to Him to lay down His greatness to serve our demands for a good life.
I know that sounds mean and unloving. That's why it is so easy to just not believe in a God at all. Connecting what we want and need in life to whether God is good kills the greatness that we might be able to come into contact with as we relate to this God that loves us so.
As you go after all the goodness this life has to offer, remember the greatness of God. His love for you is so great that He will even tolerate Satan's attacks in your life if those attacks will make His plan for salvation be something you and those around you might better see and want in their lives. I know that doesn't sound loving or good. But it is great!
Let God be god in your life today. Let His greatness shine as you stand against the craziness of this world knowing who you are. Your status as victor is guaranteed by the fact that God calls you His child, not be the amount of goodness you might attain in your life. Thank God for His greatness and watch as that greatness works its power in and through all you do this amazing day.
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