Our Father’s Extravagance
“If God really loved me, He would certainly do _________________
for me!” I wonder how many times that thought has flickered through
our minds. We look at our circumstances and then begin to wonder
whether God really loves us, because if He really did, things would be
different.
There are two rationales that often lead us to doubt God’s goodness.
First, when we have a burning desire in our hearts and minds for some-
thing that we believe is good, the idea that God might want something
different for us may seem ridiculous. Second, we may doubt God’s
goodness because our experience clashes with what we believe. If
something looks good or feels good or sounds good or tastes good, then
it must be good. And so we get angry with God when we can’t have it.
This is where faith comes into play. Faith comes into action precisely
at those times we are tempted to doubt God and His goodness.
Romans 8:28–39 is a powerful passage that describes the goodness
of God toward us. What reasons can you find in the text that can
guard our minds against doubting God’s goodness?
In Romans 8:32, there is an important piece of logic that is extremely
helpful in guarding us from becoming overwhelmed by our circum-
stances. “If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us,
embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending
his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for
us?” (The Message). How could we possibly think that God would send
Jesus to die for us and then turn mean and stingy?
This means that the truth of God’s generosity to us, seen in the death
of Christ, must have a stronger impact in our thinking than all of the
doubts that the crucible may generate inside us.
How is it possible for a truth (God’s goodness) to have a more
powerful effect on you than your doubts? Spend some time
meditating on the truth that God has given Jesus to die in your
place, and that this incredible generosity continues in a thousand
different ways for you today. What does this do for your faith?
