God Makes Good

My virtual group is reading through the second week of Curating the Good. This week focuses on how God MAKES Good. God made the universe, out of nothing. “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31). Everything that God made, He called it good. He is a Maker of good. And we are made in His image.

What are you making?

Today, I made notes for a paper on a case study for grad school. I made dinner for my family (Taco Tuesday!). I made phone calls for a church retreat. And somewhere in there, I made myself hold a plank and contort myself for my exercise class. Later, I made peace with someone who I had wronged. These were all very good things.

God gives us the opportunity to make good every day, He is generous like that. He knows how it feels to make good, and He wants that for us.

For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10, ESV

But, I had to confess to my Curating the Good group that I wasn’t consistently making good choices, that I was forsaking some good works, which God had prepared for me from the Beginning. See, I’ve been holding a grudge against someone in my life who often criticizes me, someone who is prickly. Of course, I am often prickly, too. And when people hurt me, I struggle to get past it.

While I was talking to a dear friend today, a verse came up, and I knew the Lord was speaking through it, to me: “Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil” (Psalm 37:8, ESV). I know the Lord was reminding me not to fret about what others think about or say to me. I certainly can’t use someone’s harsh words, their sin, as an excuse for my sin, because [tweetthis]God is making good in my life, even out of the hard things. #CuratingtheGood[/tweetthis]

Curating the Good in the Hard Things

I wrote this prayer for Monday,

Lord, let me seek the good, see the good, and call it good, like You.

The good that God has made in our lives is always there, whether we see it or not. He makes good rules for us to follow and good plans for our lives.

For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:13-16, ESV

God wrote your story and mine before we were born. He planned our friendships, laid out our family trees, plotted our education and our careers, and even scheduled our meetings and appointments. When I rest in the sovereignty of God, I can say of every situation, of every person I encounter—God is at work here. Like me, He made you and your life on purpose, with purpose, for your good and for His glory. 

Homework for the Nitpickers

But it’s hard sometimes. We are natural-born complainers. We are nitpickers and problem seekers.

Sometimes it’s hard to find, but in tough situations and hard relationships—the ones that humble us and draw us closer to God—there is good. Seeking the good, finding it where we don’t expect it, helps us to remember how much He loves us. And that takes practice.

Curating the good is a practice. All of us need to practice calling out the good, confessing it. To confess the good is to acknowledge it, name it, praise Him for it, and share it with others. We curate the good because He does. We are made to be like Him, and when He saw what He had made, He called it very good.

Lord, in every situation, even those that seem less than ideal to us, help us seek the good, see the good, and call out the good, like You do.

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