The Goodness of the Lord

I was in the grocery store with my one year old son sitting in the basket. We were in a crowded aisle and as we walked past one lady, he looked at her, smiled, waved, and in a cute little baby voice said, "hi!". She smiled, I smiled, everyone within hearing distance smiled, and walked away happier. In that one instant, a chance encounter with a toddler in the grocery store changed something fundamentally. An encounter with hope and innocence and purity brightened the day for a handful of people. I don't know what they had going on in their lives, or anything like that. All I know is that good things can happen when you least expect it.

I try to cling to moments like that because it is easy to drown in the sorrows of the daily news, in the sins and crimes of everyday life. We all know how easy it is to become jaded about the state of humanity. How easy it can be to think that there is no good left in the world, and that Christ surely cannot work with such poor materials.

It's so easy to feel hopeless. It's so human. David felt that way so many times. Numerous Psalms are simply cries to God of hopelessness and despair and loneliness. David is the articulator of our souls. He felt the same way, but he also knew that behind his despair, God was still faithful. David may rage at the world and God for verse after verse, and then in the final verse remind us of exactly Who God is, and always will be.

One of my favorite Psalms to go to when I feel that hopelessness and bitterness creeping up on me again is Psalm 27, especially the last two verses. Psalm 27 is about the mighty strength and safe harbor of the Lord. It's about knowing that He is our shelter and our fortress, and when things get rough we can find sanctuary in Him. David ends it like this:

"I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord." (Ps. 27:13-14, NIV)

It's nice to be reminded that while it may seem like there is no good left in the world, God is still at work. Maybe through the innocent action of a baby, or through charities, or even in the mundane things: He is still moving. When things get rough, or you feel hopeless, remember this. Remember that we are called to wait on the Lord. God's goodness is here, and though we see it sometimes sporadically, popping up as flashes of light in the uniform gray; remember, this is His planet, and He is not done with it yet.