God Is Better Than Good

I believe that God is good all the time and all the time, God is good.

But can we be real for a minute? Everything in life doesn’t always feel good. There are times when the situations we are facing seem unbearable and just saying “God is good all the time” doesn’t make you feel any better. But I’ve found that exercising that belief can bring peace.

This morning when I woke up, I felt filled with anxiety. I laid in bed and tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn’t. I closed my eyes, but all the things I needed to remember to do and all the things I didn’t get done the day before, just kept running through my mind. So I got out of bed and went to my prayer corner. It’s the little space in the corner of my office that faces away from my desk, where I sit and pray, study and spend time with God.

Today wasn’t a morning where I felt like studying the Word. To be honest, I just wanted to get started with my work day because I felt the pressure of so much to do. But instead, I chose to pray in writing. When my mind is all over the place, it’s hard for me to pray. So I like to write my prayers, because it helps me focus. Here’s what I prayed today:

“Father, please calm my anxious heart. My chest feels gripped with anxiety. There’s a tightness I can’t seem to shake. I’ve done what I can for relief, but I know lasting relief can only come from You. Please calm my anxious heart and restore peace in my soul. I’m holding on to that seed of faith, trust and hope while I wait patiently in this valley. With each day that you get me through, I praise You because I can feel the soil around that seed getting healthier, growing nutrient rich as I spend more time with You. I yearn for it now, but I will be patient and wait for the day when the pressure on my seed lifts because my faith, trust and hope have grown big enough to bloom again. Until that breakthrough I will combat the lies I hear others speak and that the devil tries to put in my mind with what I know is true. Regardless of the behavior of others, I will be noble and behave in a way that You can be proud of. I will do what is right according to Your Word. I will strive to be pure, but acknowledge my every day sins and ask Your forgiveness. I will focus my eyes and ears on what is lovely and not fill my mind with darkness. I will celebrate what is admirable and highlight the good I see in others. I will rejoice at excellence and give You all the praise. And in this moment, I feel that tightness lifted. It’s grip has lessened and I can breathe. Thank You Father. Thank You Jesus. Thank You Holy Spirit.

I share this because I hope it inspires you to not just say “God is good,” but to exercise that belief. If you know He is good, but you find yourself in a bad situation, go to Him. Go before the Father who loves you and ask Him to help you see His goodness. Go before Him and speak His Word back to Him. You’ll probably notice that what I wrote was my way of speaking Philippians 4:4-9 back to God.

In that passage of scripture, Paul exhorts (encourages) us to rejoice in the Lord always, to not be anxious about anything, but take everything to God in prayer. He tells us that when we do this and when we meditate on good things, God’s peace, which transcend all understanding will guard our hearts and minds.

And that’s what God did for me today. I woke up full of anxiety, and by the time I finished writing this prayer, His peace had already started to flow into my heart and mind.

God is good all the time. And all the time God is good. BUT it’s up to us to put that belief into practice. It’s up to us to go to Him when we’re struggling. It’s not that during my prayer my situation changed….it’s that during my prayer, God helped me to block out those negative thoughts and feelings. His Holy Spirit stepped in to guard my heart and mind.

Praise the Lord!

Living life encouraged and choosing joy doesn’t mean that tough stuff doesn’t happen to you. It does mean that you choose to lift your eyes to the Lord in every situation, because you know that God is better than good.

He’s been better to us than we deserve. He’s been good to us in the past and He has good things planned for our future. He’s made a way out of no way before and He will make a way out of your current tribulations too.

Do you believe that God is good all the time?

Let’s discuss, post a comment below.

Jamila is the founder of loved+blessed. On her personal mission to leave a legacy of encouragement, she blogs about her own life lessons with the hope that it will bring joy into others’ lives and help them find the courage to keep walking in faith knowing that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord. Read her testimony of how God turned her misery into ministry.