God is good. We usually think that means He is good because he keeps us from having problems. Or we think that He is good because He will make good things come out of our bad experiences. Or He is good because he gives me good things. Nope. God is good in the good times and the bad times. God is good when life is smooth and when life is hard. God is good all the time.

What then do I mean that God is good? God is good because He is God and that is His very nature. But that is self-referential logic and not very helpful to this discussion. God is good from our perspective because he wills and works for our betterment. By that I mean He wants and empowers us to be more like Him. He works in and on us so that we become better, more loving, patient, kind, etc. Let me tell you a story:

This weekend was a great home time for me. I spent quality time with my lady, I attended and passed a motorcycle rider training course, so that I can get my motorcycle license. I participated in our local Highland Games event enjoying time with friends. It has been a wonderful weekend Until today.

This morning started out wonderful. Coffee with my queen. Watching a great video teaching series. Getting ready to go to the lake for boating and a BBQ with some friends. Then we got to the lake. The lake level was a little low and when I backed down the dock, the trailer dropped off the ramp into the mud and got stuck. Frustrating but no problem, I could launch and then figure out how to fix it. As I guided the boat over to the dock Lil Bit, my granddaughter, said “Papa there’s water coming in the boat!” in a moment of new owner carelessness I had neglected to check the drain plug. Angry and frustrated and more than a little concerned for the boat, I hurried to pull it back to the trailer. So there I am, scratching my head about how to yank the trailer up over the concrete lip with a boat that now has several hundred gallons of lake water in it. Then I find that the axle was caught under the lip and will have to be manually lifted up over the obstruction. And then I noticed I had bent the truck’s trailer hitch trying to pull it out.

That’s when a stranger came over and offered to help. We got the drain plug in and backed the boat off the trailer. Then he lifted while I pulled the trailer up over the lip. after cranking the boat back on the trailer we could drain some water, then pull in on some more. repeat the sequence a couple times and we finally got it squared away. Just in time for the BBQ with our friends.

So where was God in all this? I’ll tell you. He was in me. And in a stranger who acted to me as Jesus with skin on. God, over the last few years, has been working in me and changing me. There was a time (not really very long ago) that today’s events would have sparked in me a fit of rage, borne of frustration and loss, that would have spilled over into an outburst that destroyed any good feelings. The afternoon would have been ruined, Lynn would have left hurt and damaged, our friends would have been traumatized by my actions.

But instead, God worked in me and through that stranger, to calm me and to focus on the solution to the problem and not the problem itself. We solved it and went on have a calm and peaceful afternoon.

God is good. And He is transforming me into the man He intends me to be.

How about you? Where is God growing you? Where have you seen change? HAVE you seen change? Why not? It’s tie to get past the idea that God is good for what He does for me and recognize that God is good, in part, because of what He does IN us.