How can I experience the goodness of God?

Many people want to experience the goodness of God in their lives. God is good; He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and He sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:45) God’s love is universal. It encompasses all people. “He raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:6-7.

But not all people feel God’s love or experience His goodness. It could look like God shows partiality, but He does not. The reason lies within the people themselves.

We can ask, “Where does God keep this wealth of goodness?” We read in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

The goodness of God shall follow me

The secret is to come to Christ, and become a new creation in Him. There, in Christ Jesus, God has stored His goodness like a precious treasure in life’s tasks that are prepared for me.

That means that by walking in the works that God has prepared for me and thereby serving God in a simple faithfulness and love to Him, I experience the boundless riches of God’s grace and goodness toward me. I experience what David says in Psalm 23:6, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.” The goodness of God shall follow me!

Holding on to the goodness of God

A person’s perception of God – the way you experience God – can be said to be a reflection of yourself. “With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.” Psalm 18:25-26. If you are obstinate and stingy, with little to give your fellow man, you will experience God as obstinate.

If you want to experience God as an open, warm, and kind God, then be open, warm and kind toward your fellow men. There is enough power in the gospel which Jesus, the Son of God, brought; to transform a person from having an evil nature to becoming sincere, pure, and righteous.

For “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And his ears are open to their prayers” 1 Peter 3:10-12. “…but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness…” Romans 11:22. To faithfully hold fast to God’s laws and obey His promptings to do what is good in your life, is to hold fast to His goodness.

The goodness of God as a driving force

God does not force anyone against their will. “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the Goodness of God leads you to repentance?” Romans 2:4. In His great goodness and longsuffering toward mankind, God draws and implores us toward His way – so that He, according to His own laws, can pour out His riches of goodness over us. Do you want to be one of these people?