God Is Always Good, Things Aren’t

“The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him” (Nahum 1: 7).

Often overlooked in this promising passage is the expression “the day of trouble.” We all have such days. Sing it with Buck Owens and Roy Clark.

“Gloom, despair, and agony on me deep, dark depression, excessive misery.
If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.”

Does that sound like your theme song?

The admission regarding the days of trouble are the revelation of why there is hope. “The Lord is good… And He knows those who trust in Him.”

Do you trust in Him? If so, brush off any semblance of an inferiority complex, God knows you. Got it, you are known by God. That knowing means He is aware of you and your condition. Conditions are not always good. God is always good, always.

One of God’s faithful missionaries, Allen Gardiner, experienced many physical difficulties and hardships throughout his service to the Savior. Yet, in it all he found God to be His stronghold. Despite his troubles, he said, “While God gives me strength, failure will not daunt me.” In 1851, at the age of 57, he died of disease and starvation while serving on Picton Island at the southern tip of South America. When his body was found, his diary lay nearby. It bore the record of hunger, thirst, wounds, and loneliness. The last entry in his little book showed the struggle of his shaking hand as he tried to write legibly. It read, “I am overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness of God.” Signed Allen Gardiner.

He found in the Lord what not even deprivation could take from Him, peace that passes understanding. If Allen could find that peace in the Lord, surely you can find it no matter what trouble you face.

There is an empty promise regarding Santa Clause that finds its fulfillment in the Lord: “He sees you when you’re sleepin’ He knows when you’re awake ….”

Allen knew that “… whoever loves God is known by God” (I Corinthians 8:3).

There have been a few times in my life when the death angel was looking my way with a smile. In the most extinguishing of time I have found God’s sufficiency to be my stronghold. The Lord is good, good to us and good for us. Things aren’t always good, but He is. God is good even in a time that is not so good. The key to overcoming victory is to concentrate on Him and not on the day of trouble.

Whether walking through the broad sunlit uplands of victory and achievement or trudging through the valley of the shadow He is always there.