“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:6)
The writer of Psalm 23 (David), had seen some difficult days, especially when he was a fugitive in the desert for many years. He nearly lost his life multiple times and faced all kinds of challenges through the years, but he never lost sight of the goodness of God. His confession in many of his psalms was “The Lord is good and His love endures forever.” (Psalm 100:5 & Psalm 136:1).
Many of us around the world are facing challenges we never expected to see, but the Holy Spirit is reminding us today to refocus on the goodness of God. Friend, God will be to you what you believe Him to be. The more David saw God as “good”, the more he saw that abundant goodness manifested in his life, even in the most difficult of circumstances. He came out of every challenge victorious, and a stronger man, because God was to him what he believed Him to be!
In Psalm 23:6 David says “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” How can you stay cognizant of the goodness of God? By staying conscious of His presence and that you are in Him and He is in you. The Lord is Goodness, and therefore His goodness is where He is. His “God-ness” is His goodness! If I see limitations in the goodness of God, it is because of how I think about Him, or how I see myself as deserving or undeserving; it could be because of how I have “capped” off the extent of His goodness and favor on my life. If there is no limit to His unconditional love, there is also no limit to His goodness and kindness to me!
Let me encourage you today to see that the goodness of Abba is without any limitation. It is as high and far and wide as you and I will allow it to be. If you are greedy for more of His goodness, then more of His goodness is what you will see – in every area of your life! There is goodness displayed in every day of our lives, if only we stay cognizant and see it along the way. Every time you nearly experienced a collision on the highway, that’s the goodness of Abba sending His angels to protect you. Maybe you suffered some losses in a financial deal, but it was the goodness of God that you didn’t lose more! I looked back on a recent monetary loss, and realized that God the Holy Spirit had been speaking to me in His goodness, cautioning me about the deal, but I had not understood. Holy Spirit is always speaking, and if we would stop to listen, we would see the manifestation of God’s kindness and goodness, and how He cares about every detail of our lives. He is in everything, and His goodness and love are never ending!
God’s goodness speaks to me through everything around me. Whenever I am outdoors and I see the infinity of the sky, or the lushness of green trees, the vastness of the ocean, or the wonder on the face of a little child, I am awakened anew to the absolute goodness of God. He is extravagant in His giving, and so generous in everything He does for us!
Dear friend, there is the goodness of God in the midst of every situation, even the challenging one you are currently walking through. I know a lady who missed her train to work one morning, because of a family problem; although she saw it as an annoying set back in her day, she found out later that there had been a fire on that train and that she had been spared a lot of inconvenience and possibly injury. It was goodness manifesting in her life. When you start to tune in to the goodness of God, you will see His heart in every situation you experience. He loves you so tenderly and really wants you to know how much! Yes, the goodness and mercy of God are not only following you, but walking ahead of you, opening the way before you, attracting favor upon the things you do. This heavenly goodness and mercy are not just for today, but for always; the words of Psalm 23:6 tell us that they are our close companions for all the days of our lives!
Abba is a good Father. You and I are alive and well, and breathing in the life of God because of the goodness and kindness of our Father. Matthew 5:45 shows us that His goodness is in everything and lavished on everyone. “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”. We were born to flourish and prosper in body, spirit and soul; to overcome adversity and to be strong in Jesus and in the power of His might. We were born to walk in the warmth of His smile, and to feel and know His absolute goodness every day of our lives. Our Lord truly is good, and His love endures forever. He holds your world firmly in His hands!
Be abundantly blessed, and may you be deeply filled with a fresh revelation of Abba God, as you tune in to His goodness, and you see it every day!
Minoli Haththotuwa, 16 June 2021
