God is good. This statement has echoed through a church sanctuary from the tongue of a preacher. It has resounded in a hospital room. It has often been repeated in both easy and challenging circumstances. It can become nothing more than a vain repetition and trite expression. So much so that when you hear it, this cynical reply, “Really?” may arise within you. You hear about pointless wars, school shootings, and terrorist attacks and wonder “Is God really good?” To put it closer to home, you experience the death of a loved one, loss of a job, and reception of a bad doctor’s report and wonder “Is God actually good?”
You know that the proper Sunday School answer is to say “Yes! God is good!” but the truth of God’s goodness seems more like an abstract possibility than a concrete reality. We know that we should believe God is good, but if we’re honest, sometimes we wonder if God is really and truly good. James 1:16-18 provides concrete assurance for us that God is truly and really good in three ways:
