You Are Good
By Shirley Mitchell
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
1 Chronicles 16:34
A few years ago, I attended Lifeway’s Women Leadership forum in Nashville, TN. I had a pivotal moment with God in a prayer time led by Leighann McCoy. She had us call out attributes of God. The first thing that came to my mind was, “Lord, You are holy.” Then, she read Psalm 42. God spoke to me during verses 5-6 which say, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon – from MountMizar.” Jordan is the Promised Land. Mount Hermon is the mount of transfiguration. I happened to be at the point of writing about the story of the mountain of transfiguration for the Jesus Lives Bible study. So I had it fresh on my mind. I understand that for a Christian it represents the place of meeting with God and divine presence. It also represents having your mind transformed into the image of Christ. I knew that God was asking me, “Why are you discouraged, why are you so sad?” I realized that I was discouraged because I needed an avenue to express what God was telling me. I was writing Jesus Lives, but I was still wondering about my purpose and my calling. I didn’t know in which race I was running. I just knew that I was in the race.
Then, God started to remind me of my God-moments. He replayed them in my mind like movie clips from my life. I remembered at the Louisville 2000 Living Proof Live event when God told me to write and told me how to study the Bible through Precepts so that I would write. I remembered how God supernaturally arranged a meeting at the Cracker Barrel in 2003. I met some soul sisters for life, and I was given the assignment to write my first devotional booklet. I remembered in 2005 when God spoke to me during the song “Praise to the Lord.” He said to me through these lyrics, “Can’t thou hast seen all thy desires have been granted in what He ordaineth.’ He said, “I have ordained this. You are not writing for nothing. Your desire has come from Me.”
Then, God reminded me of a time in 1997. I stood on the balcony in Gulf Shores, Alabama on a retreat with a group from First Baptist Church Gulfport, Mississippi. I had just started going to church after leaving the church when I went to high school and college. This was my first attempt to build relationships with the people there. However, I stood on the balcony in despair. I was not fitting into the group, and I didn’t know why I came. I was enjoying the Bible teaching and learning so much. However, I felt like I just didn’t fit in with these church people. I thought, “Why can’t I keep listening to Dr. David Jeremiah teach the Bible on the radio and give up this church thing?” I was so discouraged that this group had not thrown open their arms to love me. I stood on that balcony and asked the Lord, “What good can come from this? Lord, I prayed about this before I left to participate on this trip. I was on my knees by my couch praying for acceptance, but look at what is happening. I’m all alone, and trying to fit in with a church group is a waste of my time. I don’t fit.” I asked Him to spare me from more pain of rejection, but there on that balcony it just looked like I was not being accepted. So I thought, “Lord, what GOOD can possibly come from this?”
I stayed at the retreat in obedience. I was going to finish what I started. By the next day, I was proud that I made it through the retreat, but I was ready to never attend church ever again. I went through the lunch line and filled up my plate. I was prepared to go eat by myself. Then, a woman whose biggest spiritual gift just may be her big mouth – or maybe the nice way to say it is the gift of hospitality – shouted to me from across the room, “Shirley, come sit by me!” I did. In one instance, I felt accepted. She began the wave of others who reached out to accept me. I stayed in church. The next Sunday at church, a woman from my room at the retreat invited me to Ladies Bible study. I had not talked to her, but Melissa reached out to me in Sunday School. I met and connected with the other ladies in the group. They taught me the Word through teaching and through demonstration of how they lived and treated me. A godly woman named Toni became one the best friends that I have ever had. The acceptance and the teaching through that Ladies Bible study is the vehicle that God used to change my life.
I had no idea the amazing things that God would do in my life and the lives of others. I had no idea what the next 9 ½ years would hold. God brought me the most wonderful husband who was made perfectly for me. God brought us some beautiful children. He made us a happy family that is madly in love with Him. So many people have had their lives changed by that decision of obedience to stay at the retreat and that I remain open to wherever God leads me. I cannot recount them all. In heaven, I will see the fullness of it. For now, I have seen singles put together in marriages, people discipled well, strongholds broken, teenagers mentored, people led to Christ, friendships formed, encouragement poured out, and godly guidance given to others. I’ve fanned the flame and passed a contagious fiery passion. All of this came from one decision to obey God and keep pressing forward so that He could show me the answer to my question “What good can come from this?” This turning point brought more good than I ever could have imagined in such a short period of time. It was one decision to keep believing, pressing through the unknown, and trusting Him. I would have missed it if I had left that retreat and never attended church again.
So when Leighann was telling us to pray attributes of God, my mind settled on one word. God is good! Oh, He is so Good! Identifying the race I was in or my purpose and calling didn’t matter to me. My soul was no longer downcast because I knew that the past several years had been filled with so much good that I could trust God for the next several years because He is GOOD! What God has prepared for me is more than my ears have heard, my eyes have seen, and my mind has ever conceived (1 Corinthians 2:9). I knew I was headed for my Jordan, my Promised Land. I would see Him transfigured before my eyes on Mount Hermon and have a fresh revelation of Him. Promised Land theology becomes an earthbound reality only to those who cash in their fear and complacency for the one ticket out of their long-inhabited wilderness. I was ready to go into the Promised Land. I became determined to persistently ask my omnipotent and omniscient God who holds the light to my path to show me the next step. I knew that He brings more good than I could ever imagine. So I may not have known what the next decade held, I may not have known the route to my Promised Land or the place of my Promised Land, but I knew my Guide. Just as He could not unfold His kingdom calendar and His plan for my life on the balcony several ago, He wouldn’t unfold it at that prayer meeting, and He won’t unfold it to me now. I could not have imagined all the good that He brought forth in such a short time frame. When God created the world, He said it was good. He said it was Good! He could have chosen many words to describe His creation; yet, He chose to say that it was Good! Just as God declared His creation to be good, He declares the work He is doing in our lives, His transformation of us, and His abiding with us to be good! He brings good things out of obedient children. So I’ll stay obedient and keep my feet on His path.
Oh, just wait, child. God’s pulling out all colors of His holy pallet and painting a beautiful masterpiece for your life, too. He keeps painting and painting fresh scenes all of the time. Are you downcast? Have you forgotten to fully trust the One who you are following? Are you wondering where your Jordan is? Do you not see your purpose going like you think it should? Are you anxious to go to Mount Herman and see Him transfigured? It is all happening today. He is slowly unfolding His purpose for your life as each day you become more like His Son. Think about your God-moments, your movie clips, and all that God has done in your life. If you have walked with God for a reasonable period of time, then I assure you that you have many scrapbook memories with Him. He is good!
Pray with me: Oh, Lord, all the time – past, present, and future - You are good, Lord. You are good, Lord, all the time. All the time, You are good. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. You, LORD, are faithful to all Your promises and loving toward all You have made (Psalm 145:9). You satisfy our desires with good things (Psalm 103:5). You are good, and what You do is good; teach me Your decrees (Psalm 119:68). O LORD, You are God! You have promised these good things to Your servant (1 Chronicles 17:26). Help us to remember our moments with You and collect them like a scrapbook in our minds. When we are discouraged, then we can draw on them and remember all that You have done. May we respond in praise and gratitude. May we worship You for how good You are! It is in the mighty Name of Your Son Jesus, Yeshua, that we pray. Amen.