New Music Friday: Brandon Lake "How Good God Is"
“I hope as you hear this song, you can look at those circumstances in your life and that it pushes you towards God.” - Brandon Lake
I think that message becomes especially meaningful when we find ourselves in the fall season of life.
You know, fall is a beautiful season. The leaves change. The colors get richer. Things slow down a little. And if you're like me, you start looking back over the years and realizing that life hasn't always gone the way you planned.
Some seasons were beautiful.
Some were painful.
Some made you angry.
Some made you wait.
And some showed you just how weak you really were.
But here's what I've learned:
Not everything that happened to me was good—but God was good through all of it.
THANK GOD FOR THE ANGER
Brandon sings: “Thank God for the anger that forced me to pray.”
Most of us wouldn't put anger on our list of things we're thankful for. But haven't you ever been so frustrated, hurt, or disappointed that you finally stopped trying to handle it yourself and cried out to God? Sometimes it takes a difficult season to remind us how much we need Him.
Psalm 62:8 says: “Trust in Him at all times… Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.”
God can handle your honest prayer.
You can bring Him your anger.
Your disappointment.
Your questions.
Your confusion.
Sometimes the very thing that makes us feel like we're falling apart is what finally pushes us toward God.
THANK GOD FOR THE SILENCE
Then Brandon says: “Thank God for the silence that taught me to wait.”
Oh, waiting. I've never been particularly good at it. I want God to give me the answer—and preferably by this afternoon! But the older I get, the more I understand that waiting isn't wasted time.
Psalm 27:14 says: “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart.”
Sometimes God uses the silence to teach us to trust Him. Sometimes the delay builds our faith. And sometimes we're so busy asking God, “When are You going to fix this?” that we miss what He's trying to teach us while we're waiting.
In the fall season of life, we can look back and see that God wasn't absent during those quiet seasons. He was working.
THANK GOD FOR THE WEAKNESS
Brandon also sings: “Thank God for the weakness that showed me His strength.”
That's one I understand a little better these days. When we're young, we spend a lot of time trying to prove how strong we are. Then you get older and realize…You're not as strong as you thought you were!
But maybe that's not such a bad thing. Because 2 Corinthians 12:9 says: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
Sometimes God changes the situation. Other times, He doesn't change the situation—He changes us in the situation. He teaches us that when we can't carry ourselves, He can carry us. And sometimes our greatest testimony comes from the season we thought would break us.
THE GREATEST PROOF OF GOD'S GOODNESS
Then the song takes us to the most important place: The cross.
Romans 5:8 says: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
That's where we settle the question of God's goodness.
Life won't always be good.
People won't always be good.
Circumstances won't always be good.
But God is good. The cross proves it. Jesus gave His life so that we could be forgiven, restored, and brought back into relationship with God.
LOOKING BACK FROM THE FALL
Maybe you're in the fall season of your life. Maybe you're looking back at some things you wish had been different.
· Some anger.
· Some silence.
· Some weakness.
· Some fires you wish you had never walked through.
You don't have to pretend those things were good. But maybe you can look back and see that God was good in the middle of them.
· He taught you to pray.
· He taught you to wait.
· He showed you His strength.
· He deepened your faith.
And now, in this season of life, maybe the greatest thing you can do is take what God has taught you and share it with somebody coming behind you.
That's part of the beauty of fall. The leaves may be changing, but there is still a harvest. And maybe the harvest of your life isn't about doing more. Maybe it's about giving away what God has spent a lifetime teaching you.
So if you're walking through a difficult season today, don't just look at the circumstance. Look for God in the circumstance. Keep turning toward Him. Because one day you may look back and realize: God wasn't wasting any of it. And you may find yourself saying, just like Brandon Lake:
“I never would have ever known how good God is.”
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