The Goodness of God

The Goodness of God

"You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told." -- Psalm 40:5

This morning Psalm 40 was a part of my reading. It is one of the most wonderful Psalms. Every time I read it, my heart is filled with gratitude as I realize again that "He brought me out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a NEW song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord."

The past several weeks I have been very conscious of how incorrectly I pray. I find myself asking God for things that He has already given me. Yesterday my kids were traveling to New Hampshire and I wrote in my journal, "Lord, please put your hand of protection on them as they travel." I quickly crossed it out, and wrote, "Lord, you've never taken your hand of protection off of my kids. Thank You that Your hand is already there!"

I prayed yesterday that I would walk in victory! I crossed out that sentence and wrote, "Lord, You have already given me the victory, by faith, I am going to walk in the victory that you have already secured for me IN CHRIST!

Yesterday when I arrived at work, our Director of Maintenance informed me that the boiler in our Activity Center was shot. He said that in his research the cost to replace it would be $50,000. Normally I would panic. But yesterday I prayed and asked our intercessory team to do this: "Lord, thank you that YOU already KNOW the need! Thank You, that YOU already KNOW the answer."

I shared this with our conference guests, and we committed the matter to prayer. I walked to the back of the Raws Auditorium and our CFO asked to see me. He handed me a piece of paper which was letter that arrived in Friday's mail. My Administrative Assistant was off Friday, so she didn't open the letter until yesterday morning.

The letter was dated August 19th and read, "Enclosed find a check for $40,000 from the estate of ... which is a partial distribution ..." I could not believe it! Yes, I could -- because GOD KNEW the need even before we did, and had already provided the solution!!!

Needless to say, I walked back in the auditorium and shared this praise with our guests and we sang, "PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW ..."

I am so thankful for the goodness of God. I am thankful that He is ALWAYS at work around me, and that He has invited us to be a part of that work. Lord, thank You for teaching me how to pray. Thank You for Your goodness. Bless the Lord, O my soul! -- Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 26; Psalm 119:89-176; 1 Corinthians 8

Great Quote: To excuse what can really produce good excuses is not Christian charity; it is only fairness. To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. This is hard. It is perhaps not so hard to forgive a single injury. But to forgive the incessant provocations of daily life - to keep on forgiving the bossy mother-in-law, the bullying husband, the nagging wife, the selfish daughter, the deceitful son - how can we do it? Only, I think, by remembering where we stand, by meaning our words when we say in our prayers each night, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." We are offered forgiveness on no other terms. To refuse it means to refuse God's mercy for ourselves. There is no hint of exceptions and God means what He says. C. S. Lewis