Your Heart Being Convicted of God’s Goodness is a Big Deal!

 Leif Holmes

Recently, I was struck by a statement from a book I’ve been reading. The author stated, “We must be convinced that God is good. Actually, we must be beyond convinced; we must be convicted of God’s goodness.” There is a big difference between being convinced of something and being convicted of it. Think of it in legal terms. There’s a huge difference between being convinced someone is guilty versus someone being convicted of being guilty. There is a finality to a conviction. It’s settled. It’s a done deal.

That’s why I was this author’s statement struck me so hard. In the world we live in, having conviction of God’s goodness despite everything we see, experience, and feel can be challenging to the say the least! We look around at all of the uncertainty, chaos and turmoil and wonder – where is God’s goodness? David wrote Psalm 27 in circumstances that were quite chaotic and dire as well. Though we don’t know the context, it is most likely that he was on the run for his life from the insecure and jealously-fueled King Saul. The entire psalm is worth a read, but the part that I want to emphasize is toward the end, in verses 13-14: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD: be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” David had a conviction of God’s goodness that did not waver despite everything going on around him and his conviction about God’s goodness allowed him to not only survive in the midst of crisis, but thrive! It was all predicated on how David viewed God and His goodness toward him.

The author of the book I am reading states that we have to anchor ourselves in two truths about God’s goodness –

1) That God is good no matter what is going on around us and

2) God’s desire is to be good to us always (regardless of what is going on around us).

I couldn’t agree more with that and I bet David would as well. I believe that much of the stress and doubt and fear that I sometimes struggle with would vanish if I truly was not just convinced, but convicted of God’s goodness. God is good, as the saying goes, all the time. And all the time, God is good.  Or, as is said in a more recent song:

With my life laid down
I'm surrendered now
I give You everything
'Cause Your goodness is running after
It keeps running after me

And all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God!