Surely God is Good

December 30 – January 5, 2009

Pastor: Edith Cruz

Study #573 TOPIC: “SURELY GOD IS GOOD” Psalms 73: 1-17

It is our problem to think that when obstacles and afflictions come, it is because we did something bad. The truth is that we are unaware of the afflictions that we have to live. We have to be careful, because what can turn into an obstacle for us can make us lose our faith to struggle for the typical things in life. There is no arguing about the reason of the affliction, but rather to struggle to overcome it. Our personal life cannot be seen as a mischief that wants to destroy us; what God wants is for us to learn while living our lives and to rest in the power that is within Him. Sometimes, things happen to us that we think are unfair. For example, the psalmist in this Psalm 73 cannot understand the prosperity of the wicked and the afflictions of the compassionate. Careful, it can turn into a rebellious temptation when we ask ourselves why the wicked prosper. The soul is not our best guide in life. It searches and reasons according to what it sees and feels. That is the problem of our soul, of our feelings. We have to be careful with our sentimental reasoning, for it is dangerous. One can get to erroneously think that we have fought and purified our heart in vain. Do not let the “why?” govern in us. The heart joins the soul, and all this turns into a great problem. Therefore, the soul has to be educated and brought to a righteous knowledge so it will not reason according to what it is seeing, but through a complete knowledge of an Almighty God. Let us not forget that the purpose of every man should be to follow God’s path. In occasions, God is silent, but He is present. Not only is He present, but SURELY GOD IS GOOD. Our trials cannot drag us. Suddenly, they come to us like storms and whirlwinds that discourage us and threaten us for our destruction. But God is the SOVEREIGN GOD and moreover, He is good. The threatening voices and the whirlwinds make us tremble. Then, the thought that SURELY GOD IS GOOD can leave us. Trials drag us and it seems to us that God is punishing us, but God’s path has not been disturbed. It is just that the affliction makes us tremble and speak with lack of faith. No matter how disturbed we can be, we must never think badly of the Lord, for it is where the danger lies. Do not meddle with God. Even if we know that there is threat of destruction for our lives, SURELY GOD IS GOOD. Never stop believing in God, because then His hand will not move, and we will stop seeing His miracles. God is good for those whom He has made good and righteous through the expiatory sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and to whom He has renewed the heart. A heart that has been renewed by God is always a target for our enemies. But, God will come through on our behalf for justice. Sometimes, it seems we are prisoners of our enemy, and we know that we cannot free ourselves with our own strength, but God is good with us, He shall free us. There is no well being for the wicked, the well being is for the righteous. We should not want to go through life quickly because of our afflictions. Even if affliction greets us and is with us since our waking moment each morning and tribulation accompanies us at night, despite of all of this, GOD IS GOOD. Even if temptations are so terrible that they destroy our spirit, GOD IS GOOD. God will always come out in favor of those whose hearts He has cleansed. In occasions, trials bring us distrust. When we see an excess of trials, we want to lose what God has given us. It should not be this way; we have to see that God is good. Let’s continue doing are deeds. Even if trials come our way, there is work in our hands that we cannot stop doing. Those who trust God know that when trials are over we want to give a shout out with intense passion saying that we have obtained victory. No matter how much the devil and his followers work to deceive us, we must tell them that we do not believe them; we must fear what God has to say. We must believe in God and not the devil who is a liar. Sometimes we are overwhelmed with fear and distrust. God is powerful to work. Our soul has a great battle since it began a spiritual marathon, running it to win and not to lose. Although we may seem somewhat defeated, our victory lies at the end. If we start to focus on the things of this world, it will become difficult for us to sustain ourselves in the days of the trials and then we will fall. Careful with this world that has nothing for us. When we slip, the errors of the heart and the head will affect our behavior. When men doubt God, they start to

walk in the wrong direction, his integrity stumbles. There is an intimate relationship between the heart and the feet, and these are the ones who say what is in the heart. We can be at the edge of temptation, but God sustains us and takes care of us. Sometimes jealousy strikes us when the prosperity of the impious is seen. We must be careful. What sometimes afflicts the righteous is the prosperity of the wicked. That is why careless persons become hardened. When we envy what does not belong to us, we show unhappiness. When we do not understand, we become jealous and think that God is not fair. Sometimes, we destroy ourselves thinking that the sinner prospers and we do not. The wicked mocks, boasts, and talks with arrogance, but we see them and we envy them. In Heaven, we are going to enjoy ourselves a lot, but meanwhile in the Earth we are going to struggle. We must live knowing that God has been good with us. Sometimes, we look here and there and with this we asphyxiate the power of God, we lack faith, and we forget that GOD HAS SURELY BEEN GOOD TO US. We must live satisfy with who we are. God has been good and has given us the very best. Reasoning does not work when there is jealousy. The problem is that our feet become confused by what our heart thinks. Our heart should never rebel regretting that our path has been cleansed in vain. In this foolish way, the wisest argues when his faith staggers. Asaph could not realize how reason abandoned him and left him in darkness. Like him, this can happen to us. This can also happen to us. Let us learn from this psalm and watch out from vain and improper reasoning. When improper thoughts seize us, we start to regret ourselves. And it should not be this way, when we know that SURELY GOD IS GOOD. Therefore, let us learn to live with faith and joy for what we have received in our lives, so as the psalmist learned, let’s say SURELY GOD IS GOOD. Amen.