There is a popular contemporary Christian song titled “Good, Good Father.” Just after I heard that song sung, I was reading a statement online written by a believer in Israel about the goodness of G-D, and it made me think more about His goodness. Is He really a “Good, Good Father,” and how do we know He is? What is our way to measure His goodness? To what do we compare His goodness as a Father?
Just think about some of the things we read in the Bible. For instance, we read in Genesis where G-D tells Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Does that sound like something a good father would ask someone to do? In Job, we read about how faithful and righteous Job is, and those words are followed by G-D sending Satan to kill Job’s family and destroy everything Job owns. Then, after King David sincerely repents of his adultery, his son dies.
Yeah, I know those are in the Old Testament where the harsh G-D dwells. So, let’s look at the New Testament, where we find that Paul had consistently prayed to G-D to make a way for him to go to Rome to minister there:
First, I thank my God through Messiah Yeshua for all of you, because your faithfulness is made known throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the Good News of His Son. How unceasingly I make mention of you, always pleading in my prayers, if somehow by God’s will now at last I will be granted a good journey to come to you (Rom. 1:8-10, TLV).
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Notice the words in verse 10, “if somehow by G-D’s will.” In other Bible versions, these words are translated “If by any means.” In other words, Paul is pleading with G-D to allow him to travel to Rome to preach and teach the believers there. Paul is so desirous to go to Rome that he basically tells G-D, “Any way You want to get me there is good with me.” So G-D, in His goodness, responds to his servant and son Paul’s prayer by having him arrested and sent in shackles to prison for two years.
Next, Paul is sent as a prisoner by ship to Rome. On this voyage, the ship he is on wrecks in Malta, where Paul is bitten by a snake while picking up wood for a fire. Then, after three months, he finally sails to Rome, where he spends two more years in prison.
That’s right. The good, good Father answered the prayer of Paul, His faithful servant, to be allowed to share the Good News and encourage the believers in Rome by having him arrested, imprisoned, sent by ship to be tried in Rome, shipwrecked, bitten by a poisonous serpent. Then, when he finally made it to Rome, the good, good Father had him imprisoned again for two more years.
If those aren’t enough examples to cause us to ask the question “Is He a ‘Good, Good Father’?” just think about what He did to His Son, Yeshua (Jesus), whom He sent to earth to suffer and die a gruesome death on the cross for the sins of the people the Father created.
Just think about the things listed above and the many others we could list if we had more space, and ask yourself the question: Would a good, good Father do those things? We know that answer. From our human perspective, a good, good Father would not do any of those things. After all, we read in Luke 11 how even the evil fathers know how to give good gifts to their children:
“What father, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? And if he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Ruach ha-Kodesh to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:11-13).
Yet, with all of the above said, we also know with full assurance that G-D is good and that everything He does is good, true, righteous and holy. So how can we read about all of the seemingly bad things in the Bible that G-D allowed to happen to His people while still knowing that G-D is good?
We have to first understand that our understanding of good is based only upon our viewpoint of what is good to us or good for us. G-D’s viewpoint of good is based upon His absolute and complete understanding of what is actually good. You and I judge good or bad by how it affects us personally, by our feelings, by if we gain something, by if it seems to benefit those we love. However, G-D judges good based upon His perfect knowledge of what is good.
So, when we look around us and see all of these things, as believers, we must hold on to the absolute truth that we read in Romans 8:28: “Now we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.”
When we consider both G-D’s blessings and His judgments, we must remember that whatever He does is good. G-D knows what is good for us even when we might not see it or understand it, and, without a doubt, G-D truly is a good, good Father.
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Eric Tokajer is the author of “Overcoming Fearlessness,” “What If Everything You Were Taught About the Ten Commandments Was Wrong?”, “With Me in Paradise,” “Transient Singularity,” “OY! How Did I Get Here?: Thirty-One Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Entering Ministry,” “#ManWisdom: With Eric Tokajer,” “Jesus Is to Christianity as Pasta Is to Italians” and “Galatians in Context.” Visit his website at rabbierict.com.
