From the 

Human Resources Manager 

God is Good - Even when it’s hard to see

Earlier this year, a simple phrase kept returning to my thoughts: God is good. 

In my role at the College, I have the privilege of seeing a wide range of stories, moments of joy, seasons of stress, unexpected change, and quiet perseverance.

I’ve also noticed that many of us are quick to acknowledge “God’s goodness” when things go well for us (and rightly so!). We celebrate the good things that happen, the car parks that we manage to find in the perfect locations, or when someone else takes our spot on the kitchen‑duty roster at work, or when a meeting finishes ahead of schedule. 

However, I have recently pondered whether we diminish the truth of God’s goodness when we acknowledge Him only in those moments. While those moments may deserve celebration and can remind us about how He provides for us, ultimately, life is not lived entirely in those moments. 

In thinking about it, I’ve noticed a few ways we might notice God’s goodness. 

When you can see God is good

In scripture, we read about Jesus feeding the 5,000. Imagine you were the disciples in this context. You know you have a really challenging task ahead; it’s going to be impossible to feed well over 5,000 people. So in that moment, Jesus takes the five loaves and two fish, looks up to heaven, blesses them, and suddenly you’ve got more than enough food to feed everyone, plus leftovers. This is a miracle, and in this context, you wouldn’t have any doubt that God is good.

We’ve probably all had seasons in our lives where we can see clearly how good God is. It’s often in some of the high points in our lives, you witness a miracle, the birth of a child, when you get a promotion at work you’ve always wanted, or when you win a big prize.

While we are absolutely right to acknowledge the goodness of God in those situations, to be real, those things don’t happen to most of us every day. If we rely only on seeing the goodness of God in those situations, we may miss all that God is trying to show us.

When you can sense God is good

There have been many times in my own life where God’s goodness has been something I have been able to sense rather than clearly see. For so many of us, as families, we face seasons with health concerns, financial pressures, parenting fatigue, or other periods of uncertainty. Yet God’s goodness may be evident through the steady support we experience, the compassion of others, community connection, or simply a sense that we aren’t walking alone. 

For example, I think back to a season in our own family’s life when we were trying to buy a home. What we expected to be a relatively straightforward process turned into months of inspections, auctions, rejected offers, and growing frustration. It was emotionally draining and, at times, discouraging. I'm fairly confident we went through around 120 open inspections! 

Yet even in that uncertainty, we had a quiet sense that we weren’t walking alone. While the path didn’t go the way that we hoped, we had the blessing of a friend’s house to live in temporarily while we found a new home to purchase. Once we eventually purchased, we had incredible friends and family who supported us with meals, painting, and endless renovation advice. These blessings from God made such a difference in our lives at the time. 

I’ve heard similar reflections from people walking through far heavier circumstances, particularly with illness, grief, or prolonged uncertainty. People describe having a peace that they can’t fully explain, they have the opportunity to see relationships restored, they have chances to communicate things they really want to share with a loved one, they experience the love and warmth of loving family and friends, or in the midst of confusion, they might experience a real unity within their family that they hadn’t seen for some time. 

Sure, the outcome may not be ‘good’ as we ordinarily understand it, but that doesn’t change the fact that God is good, and His goodness can be experienced in those challenging moments.

When you can’t see that God is good (but He is anyway)

There may be times for you where your circumstances are so crazy, so out of control, and you feel so caught up in the mess of situations, that you struggle to see God’s hand in your storm.

Sometimes life feels overwhelming, and circumstances spiral beyond our control. There are times when answers feel absent, and prayers can feel more difficult. At those times, it can be hard to sense that God is close at all. I think of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, where they were grieving Jesus’ death, and were walking alongside Him, without even realising that He had risen from the dead, and was very much present with them!

Despite how we may feel at times, it can be reassuring to remember that God is still good, that He’s still with you, and even if you can’t sense it right now, He’s close beside you in your darkest valley. 

As you reflect on your own life, or on the journey of your family, you may find yourself in different places at different times. I’m not sure which of these three angles of God’s goodness that you resonate with. 

Are you in a moment where you can easily identify the goodness of God? If so, that’s fantastic. We celebrate with you!

Maybe you are walking through a challenging season, though you can sense that God is with you in the midst of the circumstance. If that’s you, continue to look for God in those moments, thank Him for his presence, and continue to exercise your reliance on Him, and trust Him in the storm.

However, you may be in the midst of a circumstance where you can’t immediately sense the presence of God at all. Just remember that despite how you might feel, Jesus is alongside you. 

My hope is that, whatever season you are in right now, you might take a moment to notice God’s goodness, not defined by circumstances alone, but by His steady presence through every season of life.

Blessings,

Matt Purdy

Human Resources Manager