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I remain 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.
Psalm 27:13-14. (NIV)

I love music.

Specifically Christian music, with it’s message and meaningful lyrics. God has used music to draw me to him and comfort me for as long as I can remember. After losing my husband, I have spent a great deal of time listening to worship music and pouring out my heart through tears, prayers, and song to the Lord. One song that caught my attention recently was “The Goodness of God” by Bethel. I have to be honest when I first heard it, there was an indifference in my heart. Even though God had seen me through so much, I wasn’t sure I could sing about His goodness with my whole heart after such sadness.

The song got me to thinking about God’s goodness and if there was anything “good” left for me in this life after such heartbreak. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, God kept putting Psalm 27:13-14 (“I remain 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”) in front of me. Each time I would come across it, I would pray and ask God to show me His goodness.

As the days went by, one challenge after another kept popping up. On two consecutive days when I was feeling particularly heavy-hearted, God showed me Psalm 27:13-14 again. The second day, I just felt defeated and told God, “I keep seeing this verse, why do you keep showing it to me?”

In that desperate plea of my heart, God put a thought in my mind. Instead of it being a reminder to pray and ask for His goodness, He wanted me to see He was telling me that I WILL see His goodness.

That moment was a game changer.

It moved me from fear and doubt to eyes of gratitude for any goodness that comes my way and restores my hope. His reminder is that there is good still to come and that it was not just all lost in the past. Hang on to those good things from the past and also look for the good things God has for your future.

I want to encourage each of us as we surrender our lives and our loss to the Lord, and look to Him for our future, that He sees you and He loves you.

There is still so much goodness ahead.

Lord, our hearts can be easily weighted down by our hard and our sad. We ask You to come alongside us today and give us strength and comfort. Thank You for being our hope in days past and the days yet to come. Amen