“Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4 NKJV)
“You are good and do only good; teach me your decrees.” (Psalm 119:68 NLT)
“The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him.” (Nahum 1:7 NKJV)
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17 NKJV)
“And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:18-23 NKJV)
Before we discuss the biblical implications of the Goodness of God, let’s take a moment to go back to our creative imaginations…
…When I looked at the side by side paths leading to the gate of repentance I immediately noticed that one of them was well worn indicating that many had walked that path. The other was somewhat overgrown and looked as though travelers were few and far between. The strangest thing was that the well worn, heavily traveled path was uneven, rough, and filled with treacherous pitfalls. It looked to be a tough, even dangerous path to follow. This was the Path of Godly Sorrow. In comparison, the overgrown path, the Path of the Goodness of God (once I looked beyond the neglect), appeared to be a smooth, level path with no obstacles, pitfalls, or danger of any kind.
I also noticed that even though the paths ran side by side there was a drastic difference in the foliage and terrain on both sides of each path. The well traveled path was surrounded by weeds, thistles, thorns, and entangling vines. There was a pungent aroma being emitted that overwhelmed my senses and made me somewhat nauseous. In contrast, the less traveled path was surrounded by beautiful flowers of many varieties in the midst of plush green foliage giving off highly pleasing scents. It made me want to “stop and smell the roses.” I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why in the world do so many more people choose to travel such a terrible path when such a wonderful path is right beside it?” As I stopped to ponder this I thought to myself, “I wonder if there is any information available about these paths.” Time for my good friend “Gaagle.”
“Hey Gaagle, is there information available for the paths of Godly Sorrow and the Goodness of God?”
Answer, “There is an abundance of information available on the Path of Godly Sorrow. There are 325,000 recorded messages, 2350 books written, 1238 brochures, 821 radio broadcasts, numerous blogs, vlogs, podcasts, television broadcasts, and much more to be identified. Do you desire that I continue?”
“No thank you Gaagle. But what about the Path of God’s Goodness? What information is there?”
Answer: “There seems to be no information available at this time. Would you like me to look further?”
“No thank you Gaagle. I think you have answered my question.”
Throughout my life I have heard numerous sermons, read books, been told in conversations, and listened to in “christian music,” messages of the necessity to “hit rock bottom” in order to be brought to a point of change. It seems as though the only way we believe true change occurs in a person’s life is when things get so bad that there is simply “no choice but to look up.” This is the heart of the popular expression, “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” It is also reflected in the athletic motto, “No pain, no gain.” It’s no wonder so many follow the Path of Godly Sorrow. We have been bombarded with the message that this is the only effective way to be brought to a point of repentance. While there is truth in this, and this can be an effective path to bring a person to repentance, I am still convinced that there is an even better way to travel. I think there is a better path to follow toward the gate of repentance than the path of godly sorrow.
Are you ready for a better way?
Let’s discuss that tomorrow. Until then keep walking with me down…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 465: Pathway to Restoration – Part 5