READ: NAHUM 1:7; ROMANS 8:28-39; JAMES 1:17

“God is good. All the time.” Have you ever heard Christians say this phrase to each other? Sometimes one person will say, “God is good.” And the other will respond, “All the time.” But what do these words really mean?

God’s goodness means He is both generous and merciful. The problem is, we don’t always feel like He is being good to us. Problem after problem chips away at us until we are exhausted. School, friends, family, jobs—they all demand pieces from us until we feel we have nothing left to give. Personally, I’ve been struggling with fear about finding a job after college. I’ve come across a lot of closed doors, and it’s a time of uncertainty. But, God is good. All the time.

The amazing thing about God’s goodness? It’s unchanging. We can take comfort in the fact that God will always be good to us. The Almighty Creator wants to be generous and merciful toward us. That’s why He came to earth to save us. Jesus suffered the cross so that our sins could be forgiven and we could live with Him forever. Today, Jesus is with His people through everything we face, and He is working to restore all that is broken.

We even see God’s generosity and mercy in passages that warn of God’s just judgment. For example, Nahum 1 is all about God’s anger toward Nineveh, a city steeped in sin. But nestled in this passage is a short but powerful reminder of God’s goodness. Nahum 1:7 says, “The LORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.”

So, even when we are experiencing the brokenness of this world, we can rest in Jesus’s promise to be with us. God is good and remains good—eternally. • Naomi Zylstra

• Throughout our lives, we all experience times when God does not seem good. Can you think of a time you felt this way?

• We live in a world that has been broken by sin, but God is not aloof to our suffering. He loves us, and He came as a human, Jesus, to be with us. Through His death and resurrection, He made the way to defeat sin and death and heal all that is broken (John 1:14; 3:16-18). As we wait for Jesus to return and right every wrong, it helps to remember that He knows how badly suffering hurts, because He experienced it firsthand. So we can come to Him with anything we’re facing (Hebrews 4:14-16). Consider taking some time to talk to Jesus about whatever struggles you’re going through.

The LORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him. Nahum 1:7 (NLT)