Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!
  - Psalm 31:19

How little do people generally think of the goodness of God! Though we are surrounded by innumerable comforts in creation, all being testimonies to His goodness, yet rather than being thankful for these, when some small thing makes us uncomfortable, we complain strongly about it. It is far more fashionable for people to form protest groups than appreciation groups!

De we stop to consider that all our complaints are really complaints against God? -- for we are as much as blaming God for allowing things to happen that we do not like. Certainly He could have prevented these if He so chose.

But even the hard things He allows are moved by His goodness. For instance, it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4), and usually He must send trouble to wake us up to realize wherein we have sinned, and thus turn us back to Him.

There is great goodness laid up for those who fear God. We shall enter into that in His own time, and will marvel at its greatness, but we have reason to marvel even now at the goodness God has wrought for those who trust in Him before the sons of men. If one does not trust in Him, he will be blind to God's goodness in spite of being blessed by that goodness every day of his life.

The believer will realize that goodness wonderfully when his trust in the Lord is plainly shown before others. We know today that the way God has wrought such goodness is by the great work of the Lord Jesus in giving Himself in sacrifice for us at Calvary. Why should we ever be ashamed of making this plainly known before the world?

Leslie M. Grant