There are many lies that we tend to accept and believe about the goodness of God. It is vital to our relationship with God that we saturate ourselves in the biblical view of who God is. We must not let our circumstances, hurts, failures, disappointment in authorities and unfulfilled desires determine our view of God’s goodness. God made everything in this world good when he created it (Genesis 1) and God’s intentions for His creation have always been good. But from early on in human history Satan has tempted mankind to doubt God’s goodness. Satan sowed seeds of doubt with Eve when he questioned and stated, “Did God actually say, ‘Youshall not eat of any tree in the garden’? … You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:1, 4-5). The jest of what Satan was saying is that God is holding out on you, He is keeping something good from you; don’t believe that He is for you or has your best interest in mind.
James in his epistle explicitly addresses this trap of deception and temptation by writing “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:16-17).
Lie # 1:God’s will for me is not good or desirable.
Biblical Response: God’s will is always good, acceptable [well-pleasing] & perfect (Romans 12:2b). What God has in store for us here in this life and in the life to come is good, pleasing and perfect. God’s will is something to be earnestly desired and greatly delighted in while doing it. When we have tasted and seen that God is good (Psalm 34:8) and have come to know God’s will revealed in Scripture we will be more likely to delight in doing God’s will like King David was. He wrote “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8). David had God’s revealed will treasured in his heart (Psalm 119:11). When that is true of us then we too will have confidence that the Lord will fulfill his purposes in us (Psalm 138:8) and finish the good work that He has begun in us (Philippians 1:6).
Lie #2: God does not delight in nor is He committed to doing good to me.
Biblical Response: God greatly delights in His people and is committed to doing good to them for all eternity (Zephaniah 3:17, Jeremiah 32:39-41). These verses in Jeremiah explicitly address this lie: I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul. (Jeremiah 32:39-41)
Lie #3: God’s goodness equates God giving me everything I want and when I want it.
Biblical Response: Not everything that we desire or ask for in prayer is good for us (James 4:3), thus God doesn’t give bad gifts, He is the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). God is a loving Father who enjoys giving good gifts to His children when they ask. Jesus said “Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9-11). Sometimes we miss out on experiencing “good things” simply because we don’t ask God for them (James 4:2b) and there are times when we may ask with the wrong motives or not according to God’s will (James 4:3), thus we don’t get what we want. Nevertheless God says that if we pray according to His will then we can be confident that we will receive the things we ask for (1 John 5:14-15). Jesus said “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”(John 15:7). And we are given a command and promise in Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give the desires of your heart”. When we delight ourselves in God and abide in His word then our hearts’ desires and requests from God will tend to line up with His will and God then delights in granting us what is good from His gracious hand.