God Is Good — Morning Devotions

By Chris WittsTuesday 17 Aug 2021Morning Devotions with Chris WittsDevotionsReading Time: 4 minutes

The old-time preacher and writer Charles Spurgeon loved to tell about his grandfather, a minister, who was very poor. The one cow he owned had died, and his 10 children were without milk.

His wife asked, “What will we do now?” “I cannot tell,” he said, “but I know what God will do. We must have milk for the children and He will provide for us.” The next morning a man brought Spurgeon’s grandfather a gift of 20 pounds from the ministers’ relief fund, even though help had not been requested.

A few days before, the relief committee had divided the funds for distribution and an amount of 5 pounds was left over. One of the members said, “There is poor Mr Spurgeon down in Essex. Suppose we send it to him.” “We’d better make it 10,” said the chairman, “and I’ll give an extra five.” That made it 15. Another man added 5 more pounds. Those men knew nothing about Spurgeon’s cow, but God knew.

We would say that God was good, in fact very good, to Spurgeon and his family. He poured out his blessings upon them in their time of need. This story tells me that God is good. It’s a simple enough statement, but it’s true. Many people have proved God to be good down to the smallest details of their life.

The Lord is good to me

You might recall the Walt Disney cartoon movie called Johnny Appleseed. The main character Johnny sang a song and these were the lyrics:

The Lord is good to me,
and I thank the Lord,
for giving me the things I need,
the sun, the rain and the apple seed,
oh the Lord’s been good to me.

And every seed I sow
will grow into a tree,
and someday there’ll be apples there
for everyone in the world to share.

Here am I ‘neath the blue, blue sky;
doing as I please,
singing with my feathered friends,
humming with the bees.

I wake up every day,
as happy as I can,
because I know that with His care,
my apple trees they will still be there.
The Lord’s been good to me.

The movie Johnny Appleseed is based on the life of John Chapman, a man who went around the country planting apple seeds so trees could grow and people would be able to eat the fruit years later. But the main point I think is worth thinking over again today are these words: The Lord is good to me.

Have you ever considered?

How often have you said that? Have you ever stopped to consider how good the Lord is to you?

Every day you’re alive is a gift from him, and it’s a day full of promise and great potential because our Creator God has given it to us. Think for a moment if you’re at work right now. You have a job—hasn’t God provided that for you? There are many people who are not employed. It applies as you go grocery shopping or walk through the department stores buying what you need. You may have a car to drive, a house to live in and a bed to sleep in. All of these and more should make us grateful.

Yes, there are days when we don’t feel like being grateful for his goodness. Nothing goes right, and the day is not full of promise or joy. We wish we’d never got out of bed. We say, Let the world go on without me. However, in spite of that, we need to remember that every day, regardless of what happens, is a brand new gift and should be opened with loving care. The day will continue as other days do, even if you’re not happy about it. Time doesn’t stop because you do. It continues on.

So, why not try to make the best of each day? Psalm 31:19 (GNT) says:

How wonderful are the good things
you keep for those who honor you!
Everyone knows how good you are,
how securely you protect those who trust you.

And the most well-known Bible verse comes from Psalm 136 verse 1 (GNT): “Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; his love is eternal”. In fact if you read the whole of this Psalm you’ll discover more about the goodness of the Lord.

If you are still not sure, have a read sometime of Psalm 23. This beautiful statement says:

The Lord is my shepherd;
I have everything I need.
He lets me rest in fields of green grass
and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water…
I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life;
and your house will be my home as long as I live”.

There is something you can count on forever: that is the goodness and love of God. It will never die.