Is God Still Good?

Kevin explores the question 'Is God Still Good?' addressing the challenges of understanding God's goodness during difficult times and emphasizing the importance of eternal perspective in Christian faith.

Transcript

Kevin Toomer (00:02.446)
What's up family? It's been a long time since I've done an episode and as you should know by now, I don't do these unless I feel like there's something that God wants me to say. this episode kind of came out of nowhere as they kind of do these days. I was at the gym and on the treadmill and it seemed like God always gives me these downloads on the treadmill. I had this thought that pretty much results and at first I was just going to maybe put something on social media. The more I thought about it, the more I thought, no, this is...

something I need to do an episode for. Plus, I feel like it's been a while since I've done an episode. Shout out Dr. Briggs. I know you're happy to see this. so the title, of course, as you've probably seen is, Is God Still Good? Now, if I was to say God is good, most people know to say all the time. And I would say all the time, God is good. And that is absolutely true. But let's be honest, we don't always feel that even though we see it.

And to even intimate somehow that God isn't good is almost borderline sacrilegious. You almost commit the cardinal sin by even intimating in any degree that God is not good. Now, honestly, it's true. There's never a point where God isn't good. But it's not always the case where it's not that he isn't good. We don't understand his goodness at the moment. Or we don't see the goodness in what's going on. And one of the things that came to my mind

And this is something that I've learned as I've grown and matured as a Christian. Maybe this is you, hopefully, as you've grown and matured. That maybe your walk with Christ has gotten to the point to where you're accepting that not everything is going to go your way. That you've grown past the elementary idea because a lot of times as Christians, we think that as we grow as a Christian, we grow past just knowing basic scriptures. We should know more scripture. We should get more.

more qualified and equipped to share the gospel. And all those things are actually true as you grow as a Christian, as you are expected to grow as a Christian. Your desire for more of Him, your desire to share the word, your desire to recognize bad doctrine, all those things should come to play as you grow. But one of the more underrated things is that you realize God's goodness even in moments when it's not good to you or good for you.

Kevin Toomer (02:25.55)
or not in the way better yet, not when God's plans don't coincide with your own because, and this is not going to be a long episode. This is just a couple of scriptures. I only got two scriptures and I'm going be out of your way because this is a quick one. I will have a longer episode probably coming shortly after this one. I got something else I'm working on. This is kind of like a sneak episode that I did not plan, but again, we think that God is good as long as what we ask for.

God gives it to us. As long as what we're expecting, God gives it to us. As long as the expectation that whatever I go through, whatever I suffer, any good deed I do is going to be repaid or reimbursed in some way. We have this misconception as Christians, almost that God owes us, that whenever we go through something, whenever we do something, whenever we have an issue,

Whatever we encounter, we feel as if God is somehow tallying it up to pay us back for it. And there are times when absolutely that is true. There are times when God does reward us for things we've endured, our faithfulness, for being obedient. But the thing is, that's at His discretion. That's not necessarily an expectation. And I'm saying this because I think what happens

is that our walk with Christ can't be conditioned or determined by God's compliance with what we want. Because a lot of times in the scriptures that is out, people stop believing in God because God stopped coming through for them in the way they think. Or God, dare I say the moment that God does not come to the rescue, then all of a sudden God is no longer.

But we feel to realize there's some things in this life that God won't rescue us from. There's some things that in this life on their side of heaven, we're going to have to endure. We know all the scriptures that say that Jesus says that in this life you have tribulation. But we try to ignore those scriptures. And I had this thought because, again, I think it's something as we grow to Christian, it's easy to talk about two particular people I had in mind. It's easy to talk about Job.

Kevin Toomer (04:49.782)
And it's easy to talk about Joseph. Now, why do I point those two out? Those two stories are very famous and well known for the axiom or the idea that God is going to pay you back for your trouble. That if you endure, if you go through a hard time, if you go through a situation, if you go through a circumstance, you endure, God is going to pay you back. Again, that phrase, sounds good because it rhymes. Double for your trouble.

You look at Job, we know the story. The enemy took away his family, took away his wealth, took away his health. And at the end of the testing, the scripture says that God gave him back double what he lost. The scripture that says it, can't argue with that, right? Then you look at someone like Joseph, again, sold by his brothers into slavery, ended up becoming the second in line, second in power in Egypt. And God gave him back, not just financially, but he kind of...

God is God. Get back with his brothers. Now, we love to quote those two stories and use those things as a template, as an example of how God is going to work in our lives. And I have to give you a newsflash. That is a description of a story that is not a prescription that's going to happen for you. Now, can God do it? Yes. Will he do it? Only he knows.

So I'm saying this to say, as Christians, we have to grow up and understand that there may be things and there'll be people in your life, you may be one of those people who do not get double for your trouble. You may not get the payback. Think about it this way, all of us know someone that has done us wrong and we've never received an apology. We've never heard, I'm sorry.

Now does that mean we stop loving people because that one person didn't say they were sorry for what they've done? So just because God may say in this particular situation, you may have to endure, it doesn't change that God is good. He's just showing his goodness in a different way for you. Because for every Joseph and Job, there is a Daniel and there is a Jeremiah.

Kevin Toomer (07:14.508)
Now, why am I bringing those two up? Because Daniel and Jeremiah, two great prophets. Do you know that Jeremiah, Daniel specifically, when he was taken to captivity to Babylon, he was in the king's court and the Bible says in the book of Daniel, he sat there all the way for the whole 70 years of the captivity. And guess what? He never went back to Jerusalem. He didn't get his get back.

Now, Daniel obviously was serving. You know the story about him and the lions then. We know about the story about him having his dreams and visions. So God had obviously touched him. God had obviously had plans for him, but his plans never included him getting retribution for what he endured. Now, did Daniel in all of that ever say that God had stopped being good? He didn't, right? And then you look at someone like a Jeremiah.

called as a prophet from a child in his whole lifetime. He never he's the same thing. He was in exile as well, never went back. And if you read Jeremiah and if you read Lamentations, he never got justice as we would look at it for what he went through. But God called him to be a prophet. As a matter of fact, if you know the story Jeremiah, he wanted to quit several times and God never told him.

Keep going because I'm going to pay you back. Keep going because I'm going to give you a double for your trouble. Keep going because all the stuff you're going through is going to pay off here in the infield. None of that was ever said. None of that was ever intimated. So the point of this little episode is the same thing. Is God still good when he dares to make you and I endure?

here on earth and we don't get our payback here on earth. And I have a couple of scriptures I want to share. Just two quick scriptures. And the first one is Colossians chapter three. And it's verses one, two, and three. And as soon as I can pull it up.

Kevin Toomer (09:40.856)
So the scripture is Colossians chapter three, verses one, two, and three. And this is the key because, let me make sure.

Kevin Toomer (10:00.494)
So now part the problem is the reason why we get so disgruntled because we're focusing too much on what goes on here as opposed to eternity. Because remember this, all of us are going to live forever. The question is where are we going to spend eternity? As Christians, we know we're going to spend eternity in the presence of God. So does that mean that we ignore everything that happens here? No. But we have to make sure that our main focus is not what happens here.

If our lives are too involved in what happens here, then it's easy to get caught up in what we don't get here. And then we lose sight of the bigger picture, the big major prize. The real reason why we have to enter in the first place is not so we can get blessed here, it's so we can be eternally blessed with him. Now, would you rather God give you your rewards here or give you your rewards in heaven? Which rewards would you rather have?

I would rather get heavenly rewards as opposed to earthly rewards. But here's the scripture. I got two I want to share real quick. I'll be, again, this is going to be a quick one. Colossians chapter three, verses one, two, and three. And this is what it says. Since you have been raised to new life for Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven where Christ sits in the place of heart at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. Here it is.

for you died to this life and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. Think about this scripture. It says that, think about heaven and our real life is hidden with Christ in God. So we focus our lives on Christ and what he's going to do ultimately and eternally for us, then we won't care about what we don't get here.

We won't get so concerned about not getting ours here. We won't look at it as being unfair, because let's be honest, it's not fair for us to end up in heaven at all. We don't deserve to be saved at all, regardless. So let's not get to the point where, again, this whole episode about feeling this sense of entitlement, because dare God decide to let you and I suffer in spite of everything we've already done anyway. So God does not have to, quote unquote, let us off the hook. So we can't and we shouldn't be.

Kevin Toomer (12:25.01)
so caught up in what happens on this earth, on this planet, on this side. And again, the expectation should be, if anything, usually speaking to Daniel, three Hebrew boys, they believed that God could save them from the furnace. But even if he didn't, their view of him didn't change. What if God says it may not be a furnace literally that's going to kill you?

But it may be a figurative furnace, a furnace of a career, a furnace of a family, a furnace of a health affliction, a furnace of something else. like in Paul's case, that thorn. There may be a thorn that God gives you that he may tell you, like he told Paul, my grace is sufficient, that I'm not going to take away that thorn. So if God decides to do that, is he still good? But the answer should be yes.

Because again, as the scripture I just read, our hope is not relegated and contained to earth. It's contained in our hope and our very life as the scripture we just read is in him. I have one more scripture and I'll get out of your way. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 19. I like this version, the good news translation. And Paul is on point with this. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 19.

And it says, if our hope in Christ is good only for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in the world. So if our hope is only for what happens here, then our lives are not worth living because this can't possibly be it. And that's the problem with people who don't believe the reason why they're lost because they think that this is all there is.

But if you and I know that there is more to this, that this is not the end, that this is just a stop until the real end, where the real life begins, then our goodness is not determined or contained by earthly means or what we get here. Our goodness is already in him, in heaven, until he returns and fully opens it up for us. So that's just something. Again.

Kevin Toomer (14:50.134)
I just wanted to share real quickly. Is God still good? The answer, easy answer is yes. But then when you peel back the layers, is he good when your situation isn't good and he tells you to stay in a situation or a circumstance that doesn't feel good? Is he still good? And you and I in our Christian walk have to understand that there may be moments

when even when it seems like it's not good, we still agree that God is still good. So ask yourself that question the next time you go through something. Is my goodness, my view of God tainted by circumstance or is it contained in Christ? Because if in Christ, if it's in Christ, what happens here won't change the view. All right. That's all I got for this sneak episode. Thank you for watching and listening.

And I got some other episodes coming soon. And as always, make sure your light shines brightest for the Lord Jesus Christ beyond the benediction. See you guys soon.