Where is the Goodness
Greetings, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series where we seek to
explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years, the heavenly
Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you. This
morning we seek to understand the meaning of God's goodness.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Where is the Goodness?
"For how great is His goodness and how great is his beauty." Zechariah, Chapter 9, Verse 17.
Brothers and sisters, while we live this mortal life we are subject to many personal tragedies and at
such times, we often wonder whether God is truly good. Consider this true story. There is a beautiful
young child about six years of age. The child is the apple of his parent's eye. The child is very
lovable and very smart. Everybody adores the child and expects great things from him in the future.
Suddenly tragedy strikes, and the child is struck dead by an automobile through no fault of his or the
driver.
This kind of tragedy can happen to three groups of people. The first group is composed of those
people who are living godless lives. These are the people who pursue the false gods of ambition,
pride, self sufficiency, and materialism. The next group is composed of those people who are more
or less neutral. They acknowledge the idea of God, but have never taken the time to consider the
ideal of God. They are like kites without tales, without stability, blown this way and that way. The
next and final group are those individuals who acknowledge the reality of God, and who strive to
realize God. They are in the conscious process of learning how to perfectly do the Father's will. They
seek God's goodness.
When this kind of tragedy occurs in the first group, they are outraged. How dare this kind of thing
happen to us, they lament. We are strong and have everything we need. The first thing they do is seek
to blame someone for the natural accident. Not finding anyone to blame, they blame each other with
bitter recrimination. But no matter how much they rage or whom they blame, they cannot return their
dead child to life again. Gradually, their anger begins to fade as the impact of the loss begins to
subside, and their souls are filled with an overwhelming sense of sorrow and despair. And they may
linger in this state a very long time until they become thoroughly convinced of their powerlessness
and their uselessness to change this irreversible outcome and begin to seek after God's goodness.
It is at this time in the depth of their sorrow that they may come to recognize the ideal of God-a
perfect, all loving, all patient, all merciful and all forgiving Father--a God of goodness. Finally they
may begin to pursue this God of final and absolute goodness. And if they do, at that instant, and in
direct accordance with the degree of their pursuit, the darkness of sorrow will begin to lift, and the
light of God's goodness will begin to filter into their souls.
The next group that recognizes the idea of God when confronted with this tragedy becomes filled
with fear, and a deep sense of foreboding. They believe that the wrath of God has descended upon
their heads in judgement for paying lip service to God. They are sorrowful, but they think that they
deserve this punishment. They repent, seek forgiveness, and began to pursue the God of judgement.
Gradually, their ideal of God as a God of judgement changes into that matchless ideal of a God of
love, even God their Father, and they become filled with the joy of light.
The final group that recognizes the ideal of God and who strive to grasp the truth, beauty, and
goodness of His love initially have the characteristic human response to this tragedy--grief. But the
truth of the Father's love shines through, shouting that nothing of spiritual value is ever lost, that the
spiritual values including the values of the child's soul have all been conserved. What remains in the
survivors are the selfish factors of love which the mercy of the Son destroys. Stated another way, for
each material loss that we sustain subject to the Father's will, the Father replaces with an increased
revelation of His goodness.
Brothers and sisters, as we continue our mortal journey through this life, we are eventually stripped
of more and more of our material loyalties to material values, so that at the end of life, we are
stripped of all material values including our material lives. But having lost all the material values,
we are now in a position to gain everything spiritually, for as our material values have decreased, our
spiritual values have increased. And even though our material selves are literally crumbling around
our ears, ours souls are filled with love, patience, mercy, and forgiveness. Where is the goodness?
It is within our souls.
This concludes today's message on understanding the meaning of God's goodness. We hope you find
something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day. Until next time, this
is Dr. James Perry.
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
Where is the Goodness
