God of the Real, not the Highlights Reel

How good is God?

If you have been part of the church community for even a few weeks, chances are you have heard this saying, but what does it mean in times of difficulty… I have been a Christian for just over twenty years, and I can testify to the fact that life is full of challenges, but all seasons (even really difficult ones) eventually change. This in no way means that difficulties are always resolved, nor does it diminish the consequences of these struggles, but faith requires that we look beyond situations with an eternal perspective.

How, you ask?

Well, thankfully, the Bible helps to establish who God is when we cannot make sense of what's in front of us, which helps build this perspective. Each scripture gives us the opportunity to look beyond ourselves; we just need to look.

“In hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began”

Titus 1:2 (ESV)

This passage is an excellent example of this because it feels incomplete (just like our lives can), but that does not limit God's ability to show his eternal goodness over everything. The original Greek word for “who never lies” is “ἀψευδής” (its transliteration is apseudés). The cool thing is that this is the Bible's only use of this word. Looking at its meaning, we find that it is an adjective, so it describes who God is. It is defined as “free from falsehood,” this gives us a deeper meaning of the scripture in that falsehood is a “state of being untrue.” Therefore, one might argue that its meaning highlights God's sovereignty; where falsehood has no authority over him, given that falsehood is the “state of being untrue, " his eternal positioning is always found in truth. This one seemingly mundane word holds the power to change how we see God from one who doesn’t lie to one with such sovereignty that even his state of being is outside the bondage of falsity. And yet we often forget that our mundane lives also serve as a testament of his character through our example of God's truth.

This reminds me of a game called ‘Two Truths and a Lie’ where you share two things about yourself that are true and one false thing. Usually, I would try to trick the people playing by telling lies that sound more plausible than the truths in order to win, but in doing this, I am moulding people's perceptions of me, and if I'm being honest, I don’t always think about the implications. This is a bit like a highlights reel on social media that presents an incomplete version of someone guided by their motives.

On the other hand, God doesn’t tell lies to trick us and win the game of life; instead, he spends eternity showing humanity his whole self (even the mystery that is beyond our comprehension) so that we might learn to trust him and his promises.

The thing is, God could have made the entire Bible stories of goodness where no bad stuff happens, he could have made every main character someone who has no skeletons in their past, he could have only shown his highlights reel… but instead, he chose to tell the whole story of humanity with all its ugliness, showing how he tried to direct humanity away from sin and when that didn’t work he positioned himself within our story, the behind the scenes part where there is pain and mess. Here, he chose to show us his faithfulness through his actions that reconciled humanity and provided companionship through Jesus.

You see, vulnerability is hard, so sometimes we choose to tell the highlights reel version of our lives; when people ask us how life is, we respond with “good” without even thinking about it, but God knows he sees the story of your whole life, despite it he still chooses you, still loves you, and is still with you….

So, when you get to a part of your story that feels incomplete or a challenge with no clear end in sight, remember that God's plan for your future is full of hope and restoration. But in the middle of the mess, he is with us, not hiding from the reality of our lives but speaking eternal life back into them because God is good even when life is not.

#presence #Godisgood #challenges #lifestruggles #Godstruth #wordofGod