Stop saying God is Good

Stop.  Just stop.  It's like "everything happens for a reason." 

I'm not saying God isn't good.  But how can you reconcile a "good" God with one who allows a child to die. 

I like this description I read on the blog "Still Standing."

"You got the job! (God is good!)
You closed on the house! (God is good!)
That car barely missed you at the intersection! (God is good!)
You’re carrying twins! (God is good!)

See where I am going with this? Because the reality is that if you believe God is good, then He’s good all the time.

Like when you lose the job. Or the house is foreclosed. Or your car is totaled. Or the twins die.
And while I believe that to be true, because I believe the nature of God is unchanging…would you ever in a million years tell someone who just lost their baby to cancer: “Isn’t God sooooo good, though? Wow, didn’t He do it right?”"

I recently heard someone say how we find our calling in life is by the #&*! we go through.  The bad, horrible, painful stuff.

And while I don't disagree with the premise, because all the calling's I have found are directly as a result of the trauma's I've experienced.

But it floats around in your brain the same way "everything happens for a reason."

There is no reason that could ever be "good" enough to justify the loss of a child.  Or a spouse.  Or an illness of a family.  Or war.  Or crime.  Sure, good can come from a horrible thing but that does not JUSTIFY the bad.

When people share their pain with you, they aren't looking for comfort in the sense of "this too shall pass" or "good will come of this."  They just want a hug.  And validation.  That their pain is justified.  That they have a friend who will walk with them through this season.

And yes, good can come from it.  But maybe that's something they need to discover for themselves on the other side of the season.