“FAITHFUL AND LOVING”

17 “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.”

Psalm 145:17

In difficult situations, our knowledge and experience of God matter the most.

Yesterday’s blog reminded us that God does not sleep or take His eyes off His beloved.

Let’s continue our study of one of God’s attributes.

One use of “dikaiosyne” describes God as just in His dealings with sin: He forgives the repentant and punishes the unrepentant.

For God to be just, He should be consistent, which means He cannot have double standards. He also needs to be innocent; He couldn’t render justice if He Himself were guilty. More importantly, He has to be righteous. If God is the Creator of all, then He gets to define what is right and what is wrong.

The Bible tells us that God is righteous in His treatment of His creation, people included. His being just is part of His perfect and unchanging nature; as such, He is always right and just in whatever He does.

That’s precisely what today’s verse conveys. The Lord is faithful and loving to all of His creation, which is evidenced by His acts of restoration and provision. The Lord Jesus said that God makes the sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). So, when we reflect on God’s nature, we can see ourselves as recipients of His goodness, which isn’t only extended to believers but to all people.

In difficult times, having the right understanding of who God is and what He’s like is critical to our response to adversity. Do our present troubles cause us to doubt God, or do they give us reasons to look back and remember His goodness?

If you’re in a tough situation right now, may your heart and mind think of the countless times God has delivered you and made you glad. Even when bad things happen, His goodness remains visible; all we have to do is look.

Pursue the Savior today!

Photo by Karsten Würth on Unsplash