HE SEEKS OUR GOOD
The God of the Bible seeks our good. Every movement of His heart, every act of His hand, every command He gives is born out of love and designed for our blessing. “And now, Israel,” Moses said, “what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep His commandments and statutes which I command you today for your good” (Deuteronomy 10:12–13).
Did you hear that? For your good. God’s will is not a burden laid upon the shoulders of His people. It is the pathway to rest, peace, and fullness. When God asks for obedience, it is not because He craves power but because He desires our freedom. His commands are not the bars of a prison but the walls of a fortress keeping us safe from harm. Every word He speaks is a word of life, and every law He gives is love in disguise.
From the very beginning, this has been the heart of God—to do good to His people. Even in discipline, His hand works mercy. “The Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3:12). When God corrects us, it is not to wound us, but to heal us. Not to destroy us, but to make us whole. His chastening is the pruning of the vine so that the branch might bear more fruit (John 15:2).
The whole Bible is a revelation of a God who delights to bless. He made the earth good, filled it with beauty, and placed man in it to enjoy communion with Himself. Even after humanity fell into sin, His first words were not of vengeance, but of promise. He spoke of the Seed who would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15). Redemption was not man’s idea, it was God’s. Before the world was formed, He had already designed the plan of salvation in Christ (Ephesians 1:4). He saw our need before we knew we were lost, and He prepared the remedy before the disease had even taken root.
Everything God does is for our good. Every blessing He gives is freely offered. And yet, how often we live as though His hand were closed. James wrote, “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2). Heaven’s storehouse stands full, but the doors are opened only by prayer. Christ Himself said, “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7–8).
What a promise that is! It is as though God has set before us a fountain of living water and said, “Drink freely.” The tragedy of the Christian life is not that God is unwilling to give, but that we are unwilling to come. Many believers live in spiritual poverty while the riches of heaven are within reach. How much grace is left unused because we have not asked for it!
Dear believer, your Father delights to give. He who did not withhold His own Son will not withhold anything else that is truly good for you (Romans 8:32). When you come to Him, come as a child to a loving parent. The blessings of heaven are not earned—they are inherited through Christ. The secret is simple: draw near to Him, ask in faith, and rest in His goodness.
From eternity past, the plan of redemption was in the mind of God. Paul calls it “the mystery hidden for ages, now revealed through Christ” (Ephesians 3:9–11). The whole system of salvation—every detail, every promise, every act of grace—came from the heart of God. We did not ask Him to send a Savior. He sent one because love compelled Him to act. The cross was not an accident in time but the eternal purpose of God unfolding in history.
No one gave God counsel in His plan. “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” Paul exclaimed. “How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has ever been His counselor? Who has ever given to God that He should repay them? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever!” (Romans 11:33–36).
Think of that: the plan of salvation was conceived entirely in the mind of God. Every detail—Christ’s birth, His cross, His resurrection, His ascension—was written in the book of divine purpose long before the world began. And every part of it was for our good. He chose us, called us, redeemed us, and sealed us—all out of His mercy, all because He desired our good.
God’s goodness does not fluctuate with our failures. He is rich in mercy and great in love (Ephesians 2:4). His compassion does not expire when we fall. His mercy is renewed every morning (Lamentations 3:22–23). Though we stumble, He remains faithful. His love endures forever (Psalm 136:1–5).
At one time, we were enemies of God, wandering far from His presence, chasing after our own ways. Yet even then, He loved us. He came looking for us as a shepherd searches for a lost sheep (Luke 15:4–7). He sought us not because we were worthy, but because He is gracious. He forgives our sins freely through the blood of His Son (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14). His pardon is not partial but complete. He casts our sins into the depths of the sea and remembers them no more (Micah 7:19).
This is the heart of God: He seeks our good even when we resist Him. His patience waits at the door. His kindness leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). Every trial He allows, every blessing He bestows, every delay He permits, all are part of His design to draw us nearer to Himself.
Do you see the tenderness of His heart? When Israel wandered in the wilderness, God bore them “as a man carries his son” (Deuteronomy 1:31). When they thirsted, He brought water from the rock. When they hungered, He sent bread from heaven. And when they rebelled, He still guided them by cloud and by fire. His mercy was greater than their disobedience.
So it is with us. The Christian life is not a journey of perfect performance, but of continual dependence. God does not measure our progress by how strong we appear, but by how much we trust Him. His goal is not to make us self-sufficient, but Christ-sufficient. He will lead us through the valleys of weakness until we learn to rest in His strength.
When you doubt His goodness, look again to the cross. There you see the heart of God laid bare. The One who hung between heaven and earth did so for you. Every thorn, every wound, every drop of blood testifies: God seeks your good. He who spared not His own Son has given Himself completely for your eternal joy.
The soul that believes this truth finds rest. You can lay down your burdens and say, “Lord, You know what is best for me. I will trust You.” You can stop striving to earn His favor and begin living from the overflow of His love. The heart that trusts His goodness walks in peace, even when the path is dark.
When you know that God seeks your good, fear loses its grip. The believer who rests in God’s goodness becomes unshaken by life’s storms. The world may tremble, but the one hidden in God stands secure. “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. He knows those who take refuge in Him” (Nahum 1:7).
He knows you. He loves you. He is for you. Everything He does, every path He allows, every command He gives is meant for your good and His glory. The Potter shapes the clay not to destroy it, but to fashion it into something beautiful.
So trust Him. Lean your weary soul into His hands. Let His goodness be the pillow upon which you rest your head each night. He seeks your good more than you seek it yourself. And one day, when you stand before Him in glory, you will look back over every trial, every delay, every unanswered prayer and say with tears of joy, “He did all things well.”
Bryan Dewayne Dunaway
