The Godness and Goodness of God (episode 27)

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,920
Do you love a prodigal? Do you feel like you are lost in a scary and endless wilderness?

2
00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:17,320
Welcome to the When You Love a Prodigal podcast. I am Judy Douglass and I spent more than 15

3
00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:26,160
years in that wilderness. I believe together we will discover help and hope for your journey.

4
00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:33,160
Our son had a lot of questions for God, hard questions. Who was his dad and why didn't

5
00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:41,160
he want him? Why did his mother whom he loved always choose her addictions over him? And

6
00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:48,680
why did they, whoever they was, take him away from his mother? And then why couldn't he

7
00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:56,200
just stay with his grandparents? Why was he living with us, these people he hardly knew?

8
00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:03,680
We had similar questions. Those things had made for a really painful wounded life in

9
00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:10,000
his early years. I imagine you also have some hard questions about the hard journey you

10
00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:18,360
were on. If we are to trust God in this challenging journey with our prodigals, we need to see

11
00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:26,620
that he is trustworthy. Last week we looked at the glory of God, trying to get a little

12
00:01:26,620 --> 00:01:33,440
grasp of what that means and why that would help us to trust. Even in the face of pain

13
00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:41,480
and suffering, the kind of pain that raises questions and doubts within us, God is totally,

14
00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:49,800
utterly and completely trustworthy. Let's discover, grasp, and know this trustworthy

15
00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:57,440
God at a much deeper level. From his glory last week, let's go further and let him speak

16
00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:04,140
for himself to tell us a little of who he is. Along the way, I will make small attempts

17
00:02:04,140 --> 00:02:12,960
to bring these words home to us regarding our lives with our prodigals. God has a lot

18
00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:23,000
of names and these names reveal his godness. I like that word. It shows how much he is

19
00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:30,200
God. The Bible is full of names that different authors have given him to identify him and

20
00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:36,880
what he's like. But sometimes God himself has told us of his names. I'm just going

21
00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:43,400
to mention a few of them, but they will help us have a picture of who God is and how we

22
00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:52,320
can trust him in that. God said to Moses, I am who I am. This is what you're to say

23
00:02:52,320 --> 00:03:02,200
to the Israelites, I am has sent me to you. God's name is I am. He is the eternal present

24
00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:10,480
tense. He has no beginning or no ending and he is with us all the time. What an incredible

25
00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:17,320
promise from the God who created it all. A second name that God has given himself is

26
00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:26,840
El Emuna, which means the faithful God. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God. He

27
00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:33,880
is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those

28
00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:43,200
who love him and keep his commands. Wow. Scripture also tells us that God must be faithful because

29
00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:50,680
he must be true to who he is. So he said, I am a faithful God and so we can trust him

30
00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:57,160
that he will be faithful to whatever he said. Another name of God that he's given himself

31
00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:05,280
is El Gabor, which means the mighty God. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord

32
00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:13,280
of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.

33
00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:20,120
He's above it all. In God's conversation with Moses here, when he gives the Ten Commandments

34
00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:27,800
a second time, he reminds Moses that he is a mighty God. The children of Israel had just

35
00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:36,160
made and worshiped a golden calf, a paltry idol, but we don't love and serve an idol.

36
00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:44,080
We love and serve the true, mighty and awesome God. Another name God's given himself is Jehovah

37
00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:51,400
Rafa, God the healer. He said, if you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God

38
00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:58,960
and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep his decrees,

39
00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:05,560
I will not bring on you any of these diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord

40
00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:13,640
who heals you. Wow. Certainly you and I have areas that need healing and without a doubt

41
00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:19,120
our prodigals have areas that need healing. Some of them are physical, some of them are

42
00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:26,640
woundedness from the past, some are just emotional, some are serious addictions. So there's a

43
00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:37,200
lot of healing, mental illness, all of this. God says, I am Jehovah Rafa, I will heal you.

44
00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:45,820
He also says his name is Jehovah Sid Knau, our righteousness. He says to the Israelites,

45
00:05:45,820 --> 00:05:51,360
you must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations

46
00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:59,000
to come. So you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy. We know we can't make

47
00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:06,600
ourselves holy and our loved ones are far from holy, but our God says, I will impart

48
00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:16,920
my righteousness to you. Wow. Not worthy of that for sure, but God is so generous. These

49
00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:26,920
names of God add to our picture of his magnificence and his gifts to us. But let's consider another

50
00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:38,140
image of God's godness. After Job, I'm sure you know of Job, had suffered greatly both

51
00:06:38,140 --> 00:06:45,320
from Satan's attacks and all he'd done to destroy him and his family and his good friends'

52
00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:54,760
helpful or not so helpful words, God himself comes to Job with a dizzying interrogation.

53
00:06:54,760 --> 00:07:06,360
Job chapters 38 to 40 are pure poetry, profoundly reminding us that God is beyond our comprehension.

54
00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:14,200
Here are the first verses of Job 38. I love this. If we had time, I would read all of

55
00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:23,080
38, 39, but just a few verses here. Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said,

56
00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:29,400
Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man.

57
00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:37,880
I will question you and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?

58
00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:45,560
Tell me if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know. Who stretched

59
00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:53,720
a measuring line across it? Or on what were its footings set? Or who laid its cornerstone

60
00:07:53,720 --> 00:08:01,480
while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? Who shut up the sea

61
00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:08,200
behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped

62
00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:15,640
it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place? And I said,

63
00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:22,520
This far may you come and no farther. Here is where your proud waves halt.

64
00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:31,320
God goes on. He says, Have you ever given orders to the morning or shown the dawn its place,

65
00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:35,800
that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?

66
00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:41,960
What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their

67
00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:49,560
places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? Surely you know for you were already born.

68
00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:57,720
You have lived so many years. God has more questions for Joe. Have you entered the storehouses

69
00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:05,880
of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days

70
00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:13,160
of war and battle? What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed or the place

71
00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:20,600
where the east winds are scattered over the earth? I love this one. Who cuts a channel for the torrents

72
00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:27,880
of rain and a path for the thunderstorm to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in

73
00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:36,520
it, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Does the rain have a father?

74
00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:45,960
Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from

75
00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:52,520
the heavens? When the waters become a hardest stone? When the surface of the deep is frozen?

76
00:09:53,560 --> 00:09:59,960
God goes on for two chapters. Then at the beginning of chapter 40, he pauses

77
00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:11,080
and he says to Joseph, will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses

78
00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:23,720
God answer him. Then Job answered the Lord, I am unworthy. How can I reply to you? I put my hand

79
00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:34,200
over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer. Twice, but I will say no more. I imagine that Job

80
00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:41,800
fell on his face, joining Moses, Joshua, Daniel, John, and others who when confronted with the

81
00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:53,000
incomprehensible reality and glory of God fell on his face, as should we. But what about the goodness

82
00:10:53,000 --> 00:11:01,880
of God? We know that he is God, but is he good? The real question is, if God is really God,

83
00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:10,440
if we can believe the godness of God who is powerful and in control, is he evil or is he good?

84
00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:24,040
Does he care about me and my prodigal? Can I trust him? Certainly as lovers of prodigals,

85
00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:29,320
we sense at least two hard things threatening our grasp on the goodness of God.

86
00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:37,160
One is our constant exposure in this age of instant information to the horror going on in the world.

87
00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:46,840
And the other is our frequent, even constant struggle with so much pain, fear, confusion,

88
00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:56,600
and doubt. So we ask, is God really good? We have loved ones who are praying for the Lord,

89
00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:03,480
we have loved ones who are praying for those who go to prison, who destroy their lives with drugs

90
00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:11,320
and alcohol, and even take their own lives. We seek help for mental illness, and we raise children

91
00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:20,920
our prodigals were unable to care for, and so much more. Where is God in all of that? Is God really

92
00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:30,040
good? Last week we saw tiny glimpses of the blinding glory of God, and just now we have observed

93
00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:39,480
the reality of his unfathomable godness. Hopefully our minds and hearts have been so expanded by the

94
00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:48,360
so much more that God is and does that we have made a place, a space, for believing that he is truly

95
00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:58,040
good. Here are some helps to help us understand his goodness. Over and over scripture assures us

96
00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:05,800
that God is good, and all he does is good. Here are just a few, very few, of these promises.

97
00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:14,280
From Jeremiah, I will make an everlasting covenant with them, God says. I will never stop doing good

98
00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:23,240
to them. Did you hear that? I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me

99
00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:31,720
so they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and will assuredly plant

100
00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:39,640
them in this land with all my heart and soul. Did you see that? It says, he says, it gives God joy

101
00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:48,760
to do good to us. Those verses help. From David, taste and see that the Lord is good.

102
00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:57,800
Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. And also from David, you Lord are forgiving

103
00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:06,360
and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. In the hundredth Psalm, we read,

104
00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:14,760
for the Lord is good, and his love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through

105
00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:25,640
all generations. And in Psalm 119, speaking to God, you are good, and what you do is good.

106
00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:35,000
Teach me, teach me. And again from David, the Lord is good to all. He has compassion

107
00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:43,400
and all he has made. I love the thought that God has compassion on us and on our loved ones,

108
00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:51,320
and he does good to them and gets great joy from it. You know, God works for our good in ways we

109
00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:59,400
cannot see. As my children were growing, I was truly intentional about doing good to and for them.

110
00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:05,960
They liked and appreciated many of the good things I did for them. Today, I'm doing good for one of

111
00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:12,440
my grandchildren, who's turning five. His gifts have been sent ahead, but he will enjoy them, I think.

112
00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:19,720
But some of the good things I did for my kids, they didn't like particularly, and they said so.

113
00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:28,440
My good didn't match their good, but I was wiser than they were. Some of the good I did

114
00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:37,560
they never saw. They didn't know what else I was doing for them, including praying for them.

115
00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:44,520
I was always working for their good, even when it was invisible. Now hold on to that thought.

116
00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:52,440
In a previous episode, I mentioned the book, Hind's Feet on High Places, the story of Much Afraid

117
00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:59,880
and her journey to the high places to be with the Good Shepherd. In this one particular episode,

118
00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:08,680
or chapter in that book, she gets lost in a dense fog, and she has no idea where she is

119
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:17,320
and where to go. She can't see anywhere around her, and she's afraid. And then she remembered

120
00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:25,880
that the shepherd said, if you need me, call and I'll come. So she said, shepherd, help, I'm lost,

121
00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:31,400
and I don't know where I'm going or how to get there. And he was there, just like that.

122
00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:38,680
And he said, even in the fog, I'm working. Even if you can't see what I'm doing, I'm working.

123
00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:47,560
And this is part of getting you ready to live in the high places with me, the Good Shepherd.

124
00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:55,320
The same is true for us. Our God is always working for us and for our prodigals,

125
00:16:55,960 --> 00:17:00,680
even when we can't tell if anything is happening or not.

126
00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:09,240
Now, here's another surprising evidence of God's goodness. God's suffering demonstrates

127
00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:17,640
his supreme goodness. Huh, really? Tim Keller, author of The Reason for God and many other books,

128
00:17:18,360 --> 00:17:25,480
says the above thoughts about the fact that his suffering is an evidence of his goodness,

129
00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:31,240
and the things that we've talked about. That's been helpful, but it's not enough. In his blog,

130
00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:39,880
My Faith, the danger of asking God, why me? Why is this happening to me? Keller reminds us that

131
00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:48,040
God's original creation did not include suffering and death. Those came by our choice to live for

132
00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:57,960
ourselves. Keller writes, but God did not abandon us in that choice. Only Christianity of all the

133
00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:05,320
world's major religions teaches that God came to earth in Jesus Christ and became subject to

134
00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:14,040
suffering and death himself, dying on the cross to take the punishment of our sins, so that someday

135
00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:21,560
he can return to earth to end all suffering without ending us. Do you see what this means?

136
00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:28,680
We don't know the reason God allows evil and suffering to continue or why it is so random,

137
00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:37,480
but now at least we know the reason isn't what it can't be. It can't be that he doesn't love us.

138
00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:43,640
It can't be that he doesn't care. He is so committed to our ultimate happiness

139
00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:52,760
that he was willing to plunge into the greatest depths of suffering himself. Ultimately, God's

140
00:18:52,760 --> 00:19:00,200
willingness to suffer and sacrifice through the life and death of his son demonstrates exceedingly

141
00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:07,400
a goodness in his being, his character, his essence that is trustworthy.

142
00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:15,400
So we have explored evidence of the godness and the goodness of God. Are we beginning to get where

143
00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:24,920
we can really trust him? Think about this. The same God who gave Job a tutorial on his vastness and

144
00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:33,000
power is also the one who keeps a covenant of love with you and with me. How might this truth help

145
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:41,880
instill deeper trust within you toward God? What do you imagine your good God is doing behind the

146
00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:52,840
scenes on behalf of you and your loved one, maybe even today? God bless you. Thank you for joining

147
00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:59,000
me today on the When You Love a Proud Girl podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, please

148
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:07,480
subscribe, rate, and review the show on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen. Your review helps

149
00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:14,120
the show reach more people with the hope and encouragement of Jesus. Don't forget, take a look

150
00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:22,760
at the show notes and for more helpful information, resources, and books, check out judydouglass.com.

151
00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:29,880
That's Douglass with two S's. You can find me on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram

152
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:38,040
at JudyDouglass417. Until next week.