No Good Thing Will He Withhold
For my church goers! Help me with this one.
“God is good, all the time and all the time”
…Y’all know where I’m going with this…
“GOD IS GOOD!”
Growing up in the church, this was a staple statement emphatically spoken by all in the congregation. From greetings to engaging the congregation in a call-and-response pattern, this became a popular saying of the church. But I wonder, how many of us really understood what we were proclaiming? Did our hearts truly believe what our mouths professed?
I’d like to begin by stressing this truth; yes, God is indeed good! The goodness of God will NEVER change because goodness is a part of His essence. Circumstances and situations are ever changing but He remains good. Regardless of whether or not we understood, this is what we were ultimately stating when we recited that saying in church.
Now because we believe in the goodness of God, we can rest in knowing that no good thing will He withhold from those who do what is right.
“For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” – Psalm 84:11 (NKJV)
Although God is good and His word says there’s no good thing He will withhold from those who walk uprightly, you may be a bit confused to why your situation doesn’t appear to look good. Or perhaps you may feel flustered to why God seems to be withholding the solution to a particular need or want that you have.
But I’d like to challenge how you define “good things”. Yes, His word states He withholds no good thing but we must look at it from God’s perspective of “good things”.
What we may constitute as a “good thing”, for whatever reason; God may not view it as such. Psalm 84:11 begins by stating that,
God is a sun and shield.
As our sun, He enlightens and guides us and as our shield, He protects us.
With this being so, there are times where God will protect us from the very thing we deem as good, by simply shielding us from it. His sight reaches beyond our sight. Therefore, He knows the trouble that lies ahead of any and every decision we are inclined to make. His foreknowledge can protect us from accepting future burdens disguised as opportunities, future heartache disguised as potential love, or future pain disguised as chances of a lifetime.
So, learn to praise God for closed doors, rejection, and “missed” opportunities. God blocked it and He blocked it for a very good reason. In God blocking the wrong thing, He now has the chance to not only redirect you but also guide you toward the good thing.
My second point is, God gives good things according to His will. Not according to ours. What may seemingly feel bad to us at the moment in our eyes, may actually be good for us in the eyes of God. Romans 8:28 says,
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, and to those who have been called according to His purpose.” – Romans 8:28 (NKJV)
God’s sovereignty has a way of transforming bad things into purposeful things. Things may not always feel pleasant to you but just know that it’s working for you. More than anything, God cares about our soul and about His will being done in this earth. If it’s not in His will at the time for us to have or it’s something that will ultimately cause us to stumble spiritually, then we won’t receive it.
I cannot begin to tell you all of the things I believed were “good things” that God did not bring into fruition. Or, all of the “bad things” I wanted God to deliver me from that He chose not to. However, as I reflect back over the various prayers He responded with either a “no” or “not yet” to, and I look at where I am today, I see how it made me better. Better spiritually and mentally.
It’s something about going through heartache, discouragement, disappointment and pain that really matures your faith and matures you as a person. It definitely didn’t feel good to me at the time but it sure has been working for me.
My final point is, life does not become perfect after becoming saved. We still live in a flawed world and that fact on this side of life will not change. Along with a flawed world comes unfavorable situations and sometimes even horrible circumstances. But in all, as Christians, we do not go through things as those in the world do. As Psalm 84:11 stated,
The Lord gives grace…
His grace and favor sustain us in every situation we are in. We don’t go through things alone but rather we go through with the strength, peace, love, and joy of Christ.
We never seem to question God’s goodness when what we would consider to be good things, are happening. I can’t recall ever hearing anyone say,
“I don’t know why God keeps blessing me. I’ve been praying that He’d stop because I am just not worthy of all of the good things He’s doing! How can He be a good God if He continues to bless an imperfect person like me?!”
No, we only question God’s goodness when either bad things happen or when we feel He’s not acting in the way we’d want Him to act. But it’s in these times we have the opportunity to truly relish in the goodness of God. It’s in our pain and through the tough times that we experience the full magnitude of God’s promises. Such as peace which surpasses all understanding is only found in troubling situations. Everlasting joy is only evident in times of sorrow. To rest in God’s strength, we must become weak and to experience God’s power, we must be humbled.
So, you see. God does not withhold good things, and He doesn’t because He is a good God who loves His children. As complex as the sovereignty of God may appear at times, we can still rejoice in the most desolate situations while knowing that God’s working it out according to His purpose. Keep that in the forefront of your mind when navigating through this crazy life on earth. Because besides His unfailing love for us, one thing that will forever remain the same is
God is good, all the time and all the time, God is good!
