God is good. Not because I say He is. He is good because He is and He proclaims it as truth. That pretty much settles it.
But He has shown me recently that He is. He humbles me in humorous ways.
My family is trying to potty train our two year old daughter, Natalie. It’s been interesting. Last week she took off her diaper in her room, pooped, and then paraded through it before letting me know. After her bath, and scrubbing her poopy footprints off the carpet I let her know of my displeasure concerning her actions. No, No Natalie! No pooping on the floor! That’s just a good rule for all of us at the Taylor household.
The next morning, our four year old woke me up at 7:00 a.m. to tell me that Natalie had pooped on the floor again. Again? You’ve got to be kidding me. Before breakfast?
So I walk into the family room to discover her discarded but clean diaper. As I walked into the bathroom I saw her waste prominently displayed on the rug as if it were a work of art. Really? She had to do it right there? Two feet either to the right or left and cleaning up the tile would have been much easier.
At this point, I’m angry. Not mad, angry! I began to pick it up and clean the floor. She was three feet from the toilet. Why didn’t she just keep going? She knows that this is wrong. I had made it abundantly clear the day before that the Taylor’s DO NOT poop on the floor. It is simply unacceptable. Why did she do this? What was she thinking as she looked at the potty and shook it off like a pitcher determined to throw a fast ball rather than the curve?
That’s when God used the moment for my sanctification. He clearly said this to me. “You do this every day Heath.” “My commands are clear. You know them well. Yet you continue to ‘poop on the floor’ every day with sin in your life don’t you? I ask you why and you give me your daughter’s little shoulder shrug and downcast eyes. As if to say I don’t know why I did it. I don’t know why I chose to disobey. Sorry. And what is my response to you? How do I interact with you when you poop in your pants or on the floor or in your bed?”
God’s words cut deep into my soul. Because rather than fierce deserved wrath or anger, He makes His mercies new every morning. He has said so in His word. (Lam. 3:22) He passes over my sin and pardons my iniquities. (Micah 7:18) He removes my sin as far as the east is from the west. (Ps. 103:11-12) He forgets my sin and remembers it no more. (Jer. 31:34)
He simply requires my confession and repentance. He is good, not only because I see and experience it in my life, but because He is. An because He is, I do see and experience His love, goodness, grace and mercy. I have come to agree with David that it is sweeter than honey and better than life!
By the way, Natalie was sorry. She owned up to it and confessed her poopy disobedience. And repentance? Well, we’ve gone three days without discovering her waste scattered about and displayed on the floor. That my life, and obedience to God and purging of sin in my soul would go so well. I encourage all of us to embrace sanctification and the refining fire of a loving God in your life until the great day of glorification when sin will no longer have a place in our lives. He is good! (Ps. 119:65-68, Lam, 3:25-26) He has said so. And I agree!
