Goodness & Love

SURELY GOODNESS AND LOVE WILL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE, AND I WILL DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD FOREVER. Psalm 23.6

We live in times when nothing is certain, most of all life and all its goodness that we enjoy. Today you may be in the pink of health, enjoying wealth and everything is going good for you. But about tomorrow you cannot boast! All may turn topsy-turvey. Malaysia is a beautiful country that is prosperous and hasn’t suffered any major natural calamity. But recently, a heavy monsoon came suddenly and our southern states especially were hit with unprecedented floods! Thousands of people had to be evacuated from their comfortable homes to relief centres by boat!

To know that many today are also living in the shadow of losing the loving relationships they enjoy, is most disheartening! Sometimes I get letters from readers who sorrowfully relate the sad tale of spouses who, for some reason or the other, stop loving them and begin to fight and even threaten to separate. Unfortunately, divorces are already common in our ‘so-called progressive societies!’

All these simply show us that we cannot take the goodness and love we enjoy today for granted! We should ever be grateful to God and our country and dear ones for the life we enjoy day by day. We should also develop a trust and confidence in God that will enable us to overcome any trials and testing, before they come!

King David who had gone through all kinds of trouble in life from circumstances and from people around him, learned to trust in his God. He learned that when everything went wrong, he could still trust in the goodness and love and mercy of his God! David as a lad was a shepherd. He was a good shepherd who risked his life often to save his sheep from bears and lions! He saw in his Lord God, a Good Shepherd - One who could be trusted more than he could trust himself or any other. David believed that the Lord was not only a Good Shepherd to him but also a Great Shepherd, for he was the Almighty one! He believed and was convinced of his hope that whatever happened to him, “Surely goodness and love of His Lord will follow him all the days of his life”. Do you know that the Bible says, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”? (Heb 11.1). Such was David’s faith.

Dear believer, I do not know what trouble or trial you are going through at this time but you need a vital and living faith and hope in your Lord God almighty. Only these will enable you to overcome all your ills and woes!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, give me such convincing faith and hope in You so that I can keep assuring myself like David, “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life”. Amen.