That’s The Goodness Of God!
Psalms 31:19 – “Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!”
Have you thought on just how good the Lord really is? Have you meditated on how whole and complete He is? Have you thought about how much He puts into even the simplest of blessings for you? If you did, you would probably be compelled to praise Him — which is exactly what we should be doing.
On November 21, 2003, Veresia, little Eddie, and I were in a car accident. Little Eddie was fine, and I suffered a back injury, but our little princess experienced fractures around her left eye and cheekbone area. She had to have surgery five days later, but God is truly faithful, and all went better than we expected.
The night before the surgery, I did what I knew to do. I went into prayer. I tried to pray the “complete” prayer. I began to pray for peace over the surgeon’s life. That satan would not attack the doctor’s home or his family. That the enemy would not use the doctor’s wife or children to frustrate him or place him in a situation that would cause his mind to wander during the surgery. That angels would protect him during his travels to and from the hospital and during the night as he slept. I prayed that no sickness or disease would come over the doctor. After that, I began to pray for the staff members, nurses and others who would participate in the surgery. Eventually, this prayer did end – “thank God!”
The next morning, the day before Thanksgiving , at 3:00 a.m., we all got up and left Tallahassee for Gainesville. During the drive, while everyone was asleep, I went through a roller coaster of emotions— all the while reassuring myself that my God is a keeper of His people and His word. When we finally arrived at Shands Hospital, I felt the peace of God. Every fear was removed and every doubt destroyed. The first thing that came out of my spirit was, “This is where we are supposed to be today, and everything will be alright!”
We were greeted by a valet who parked our car, and as he took our keys, I realized, “I didn’t pray for him.” Then we went to a receptionist’s desk where we were expeditiously processed, and I realized, “I didn’t pray for her.” Then we went upstairs where we met other hospital staff whom I hadn’t prayed for, but the goodness of God had covered everything that I forgot to cover. Because of His goodness, the surgery that could have lasted hours took less than an hour. And even more, instead of having to stay overnight for observations, Veresia was released at noon. This allowed us to get back home at 3:00 p.m. the same day. To me this is the essence of “Oh how great is thy goodness.”
Of course, we pray the prayers that we know to pray, but the Bible clearly tells us that we really don’t know how to pray as we ought (Romans 8:26). We pray for jobs, but do we ever pray for the clerk who receives our application in the mail? If he or she is having a bad day and decides to drop our application into the shredder, what then? No job! But it’s the goodness of God that works out every intricate detail to ensure that we receive even the smallest of blessings. So the next time something good happens to you, whether minor or miraculous, remember — that’s the goodness of God!
