No Good Thing
Read Psalm 16.
I have many good things going on in my life. I am grateful for my family, who care for and uplift me daily. I have my health, and over the last week or so, I have been grateful for a warm place to live and sleep. I have access to good chai tea lattes, and my dog even likes me most days. That's not to mention a wonderful church family, a supportive community of colleagues who are there for help and encouragement, and a whole lot of Star Wars collectibles (not toys—collectibles, I tell you!). I am surrounded by many good things.
Where do all these things come from? If I were like most in the world around me, I'd take the credit. After all, I made the choice to marry Cathy (a wise choice indeed) and we made a choice to have a family. I go to cardiac rehab in order to gain strength and make my heart stronger (and to sweat a lot in the exercise I do). I make the choice to drive to Starbucks for my chai tea addiction, and I'd even like to think that by choosing to become a pastor in the United Methodist Church, I set in motion the circumstances that would lead us to doing ministry where we are today. I'd like to take credit for all the good things in my life.
Trouble is, I can't. Not if I'm honest and not if I listen to the ancient words of King David in Psalm 16. If there's anything good in my life, it's because God put it there. Jesus' half-brother James echoes the same thought: "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17). We want to take credit when the truth is God is the source of everything good. David says no good thing appears in our life apart from God.
So what about good things that happen to people who couldn't care less about God? Those things are evidence of what we Wesleyans would call "prevenient grace" and Calvinists tend to call "common grace." It's what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:45: "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." There are good things that happen in the world to all because (a) God is good and (b) because of his goodness, he has set the world up that way. Whether we acknowledge him or not, God is the source of every good thing. (And, in many ways, those things happen so that those far from God might have the chance to see glimpses of him and, perhaps, to respond to him.)
Sometimes, though, we have trouble seeing the good that comes every day. Life is hard and doesn't seem very good sometimes. One author I read suggested taking a few minutes before bed, journaling if that's helpful, and recalling a good thing or two that happened that particular day. Life may seem out of control, and it may even be nothing we can do anything about, but God still breaks through each and every day, sprinkling good things into our lives. That's the message of Psalm 16. David is in danger; he's praying to be kept safe. And yet he still recognizes God's goodness, and that no good thing ultimately comes from himself. It all comes from God. That's an important reminder as we launch into this new year.
I have many good things going on in my life. I am grateful for my family, who care for and uplift me daily. I have my health, and over the last week or so, I have been grateful for a warm place to live and sleep. I have access to good chai tea lattes, and my dog even likes me most days. That's not to mention a wonderful church family, a supportive community of colleagues who are there for help and encouragement, and a whole lot of Star Wars collectibles (not toys—collectibles, I tell you!). I am surrounded by many good things.
Where do all these things come from? If I were like most in the world around me, I'd take the credit. After all, I made the choice to marry Cathy (a wise choice indeed) and we made a choice to have a family. I go to cardiac rehab in order to gain strength and make my heart stronger (and to sweat a lot in the exercise I do). I make the choice to drive to Starbucks for my chai tea addiction, and I'd even like to think that by choosing to become a pastor in the United Methodist Church, I set in motion the circumstances that would lead us to doing ministry where we are today. I'd like to take credit for all the good things in my life.
Trouble is, I can't. Not if I'm honest and not if I listen to the ancient words of King David in Psalm 16. If there's anything good in my life, it's because God put it there. Jesus' half-brother James echoes the same thought: "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17). We want to take credit when the truth is God is the source of everything good. David says no good thing appears in our life apart from God.
So what about good things that happen to people who couldn't care less about God? Those things are evidence of what we Wesleyans would call "prevenient grace" and Calvinists tend to call "common grace." It's what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:45: "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." There are good things that happen in the world to all because (a) God is good and (b) because of his goodness, he has set the world up that way. Whether we acknowledge him or not, God is the source of every good thing. (And, in many ways, those things happen so that those far from God might have the chance to see glimpses of him and, perhaps, to respond to him.)
Sometimes, though, we have trouble seeing the good that comes every day. Life is hard and doesn't seem very good sometimes. One author I read suggested taking a few minutes before bed, journaling if that's helpful, and recalling a good thing or two that happened that particular day. Life may seem out of control, and it may even be nothing we can do anything about, but God still breaks through each and every day, sprinkling good things into our lives. That's the message of Psalm 16. David is in danger; he's praying to be kept safe. And yet he still recognizes God's goodness, and that no good thing ultimately comes from himself. It all comes from God. That's an important reminder as we launch into this new year.
AMEN!
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