Ask a Jamaican believer, “How are you?”and he will often say, “God is good.”
Keep in mind that many such people are impoverished, sick, or in pain. They may be homeless or hungry. Yet they say with sincerity, “God is good.”
I think this is a great testimony. It expresses biblical understanding that has been lost by many of us. In such situations, we are more likely to respond, “Why me?” or “Why would God allow this?”
Paraphrasing C. S. Lewis: The problem of reconciling human suffering with the existence of God who is good, is only insoluble so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word "good" and look on things as if man were the center of them. So think about it for a minute. When we assert God’s goodness, we are also truly affirming His “Godness.”
I have never heard a Jamaican ask: “How could a good God allow this to happen to me?” Maybe this is because they, like Lewis, know that man is not the reference point nor is he at the center of anything. God is, and we ought not diminish God with such questions. Instead, we joyfully say, “God is God.”
You have no food? God is God. You lost your job? Yes, but God is God. You are suffering? Yes. He is my God.
Make no mistake. This is not some kind of meek, fatalistic surrender to the inevitable. Rather it is strong faith, filled with positive hope for the future and readiness for present testings and coming battles.
Like Job, having now seen Him we take back those man centered words and repent (42:5,6). When we do, then God is honored—the God who always does what is good and who delights to give good gifts to His children. (Psa. 84:11; Mt 7:11)
