By Susie Shellenberger (Editor of Brio Magazine, on her own blog):

Is God really good?

Or are we just swallowing that simply
because the Psalmist tells us so in

Psalm 145?
In my last entry, I asked:
Why doesn’t God remove temptation, obliterate the devil, destroy the demons?
Here are two reasons:

First: God created man in His image (Genesis 1:26).

Therefore, because He's sovereign,


He gave us a certain measure of sovereignty, as well.


In other words . . . He didn’t create us as robots.


He allows us to make our own daily choices.He won't force us into His ways.


He won't MAKE us live according to His Word.


He allows us the freedom of choice.


And many times, the choices we make


bring hurt to ourselves.


So to shake our fist at GOD


and say, "How come, God?"


is unfair.



Second: Not only did God make you in His image

and give you a certain degree of sovereignty,


but God made you for a purpose—


and that's intimacy.


God the Father desires that we love Him.


And because true love demands a choice,


He won't force Himself upon us


but will give an alternative to us.


The alternative is evil.


The alternative is sin and self.


So if I choose to ignore God and say,


"I don't want to develop intimacy with You.


I want to live for myself and call my own shots."


Then the only alternative I have


is in the direction of evil.


And God will allow me that liberty.
The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah


said that it's only because of God's mercies


that we're not ALL consumed (Lamentations 3:22).




Really, every one of us should have been consumed


a long time ago. It's only because of God's goodness


and mercy that we're alive today!


This is true spiritually and literally.


Think about it:


The air we breathe is composed in


nitrogen


oxygen


and a few assorted gasses.


If the oxygen content was a mere 2% higher,


the world would catch fire and we'd all burn!


If the nitrogen content was 2% higher,


we'd all be poisoned and die immediately.


Who keeps the atmosphere in such perfect balance?


God.



Yet we've all rebelled against Him.


We've all sinned against Him


But He is good and merciful to every one of us.


He's slow to anger


gracious


full of mercy and


lets us continue on and on and on


until we finally come to the place


where we finally bow


in repentance and give our lives to Him.




The question isn’t, “Why is there evil?”


The question is, “Why is God so good?”