I’ll tell you the story of a moment that shook me in a good way. It didn’t last long, but it pierced the black that so often fills my interior life. Maybe you’ll relate.
As I write this I’m in Atlanta for the Catalyst conference, and this took place in the preconference sessions, the “Labs,” as the folks at Catalyst call them. So picture a big room much like the kind hotels call “ball rooms.” They’re ugly but spacious.
And on stage up front there is a bespectacled man of Asian descent in stylish urban duds named Gideon Tsang—pastor of what seems like a really wonderful, artful community down in Austin called Vox Veniae.
And God created the very first night (can you imagine?), with all the stars and crispness of the cool air, and obviously Gideon wasn’t there, but I believe he captures something of the essence of how God felt in that moment in the way he performs God’s delight. Raising his fists and smiling and laughing, Gideon tells us what God said: “It’s . . . so . . . good.”
Then God turned to one of the first trees, and he blinked to reveal the first robin, chittering and blinking and puffing out its auburn chest. And again God couldn’t help himself. He loved the robin. “It’s so, so, so good.”
And then Gideon looks at us, seated there in that thoroughly uninspiring cavern of a room. He looks at us and says words that weasel their way into my own caverns. “And when God created you, he did the same thing.” God raised his hands, and he shouted, ‘You’re so gooooooooood!!'”
Can you hear God say that about you? I know it can be hard. Believe me, I know.
But he did. I don’t believe it most of the time, not really, but today for some reason I don’t have access to, I feel something of truly believing it. And it breaks me.
I may be wrong, but friends, I think most of the problems in the world stem from our inability to believe this simple truth: God loves you, and God loves me.
You are so good.
Whoever you are, I pray that God will reveal his love to you. I pray something breaks that hard shell in which we have a habit of encasing ourselves. And I pray that for just a moment, or longer if possible, you feel just how much you mean to God.
That’s my prayer.
Beautiful truth, to remember it for ourselves and also our neighbor.
This is a beautiful picture. Thank you, Chad! His ways really are not our ways. He makes and sees the good always, maybe even especially when we don’t.
WOW! Chad, thank you for this vivid reminder of how our Heavenly Father’s love us SO very much. The Lord is indeed good (Nahum 1:7) and it’s equally amazing to see how he made us in His image so that we can truly experience these words: You Are So Good. Sharing these words heightens the experience of God’s goodness. So, I’m following your lead and will go about this day sharing this defining message of purpose. Many thanks!
You’re right that this lies at the heart of it all. If I’m valued and valuable no matter how many rejections I get, why not keep trying? If my worth is tied to the approval of human beings, the whole process of editing, querying, reviews, and book tours becoming a brutal gauntlet of misery.
Well said!
Thank you, Chad, for describing Gideon’s portrayal of what surely were God’s emotions and His excitement at creating us. I caught that God-joy, and it is encouraging! I recently read Ruth Graham’s book, Fear Not Tomorrow, God Is Already There. She says that God affirms us, at least in part, by inviting us to join Him in His work. Even better, God’s power thrives in our weakness and insufficiency. What an awesome God!
Yes indeed, we are created in his image and after his likeness. We are loved by God flaws and all.
So often I have to take it on faith that this is true. Thanks, Linda.
Thank you Chad for this “2×4 whack” right between the eyes. I may not be perfect (and don’t need to be), but I am sooooo good because God created me!
You bet you are. Take some time to let that soak in! You are so, so good.
A lovely way to go off-script, Chad. You had me at “Beluga Whale.”
Ha, thank you, Kelly, and bless you.
It seems it takes years to truly believe that God calls us good and he loves us all the time. Even when we are in the middle of trouble and have disappointed those around us and ourselves. I know becoming a parent helped me because I saw that I really did love my children no matter what they had done. Sometimes I would be telling my son that what he was doing was not right, and love would just overwhelm in my soul and I would pull him close and hug him and tell him how much I loved him, and then talk about his bad behavior. Thanks for the reminder. Let’s begin to see ourselves through God’s eyes.
Theresa, thank you, and I agree about the potential parenting has to teach us something about God’s crazy love for us.
I love this! What a welcome reminder for us all. (And Gideon sounds fantastic.) 🙂
Thanks, Maria, your kind word means a lot to me! And you’re right, Gideon has it going on!
Powerful article. Grasping the love of God and His goodness changes our perspective. I’m working on a project about God’s goodness and mercy. They birth from His unfailing love. Thanks for the inspiration to march on…write on…in the crux of His goodness.
You’re good, Karen, so good. Thanks for this comment and helping people grasp this. It’s an ongoing project for us all, no doubt.
Wow! Thank you for sharing and all praises to God, Who is sooo sooo sooo awesomely good, every minute of each new day!
Thank you, Diann, you’re so good.
This is what I want to write about. Grace and purpose. God’s love for us and the good things he has given us to do today. Your post inspires me to keep writing. thank you.
You are so good, Ben!