Is God Good?

That is a key question that must be addressed in the life of every Christian. Can He be trusted? We all say “yes, of course” but then we live lives that make it very obvious that we do not trust in a Sovereign God.

I have an ongoing battle with weight issues and I have often struggled to break free from all habits or food substances that have a hook in my flesh- coffee for example. (Cappuccino to be exact and the higher octane the better!) Every gas station sells double caffeine drinks. Truthfully, I have always believed my self-worth hinges on my productivity and so I reason that God created coffee beans so that we could go faster and do more. Honestly some people do value us more when we get work done.

In the Bible Paul said “all things are lawful for me but not all things are profitable…and I will not be mastered by anything". The truth is I am mastered by coffee and I have been for many years. When I wake up in the morning my first thought is not “Thank You Lord, for another day of life…” no, my first thought is “is the coffee done yet?”

A few weeks ago a friend gave me a deer that he’d shot (the farmers around here have an extended season because of crop damage). So I had about 80 lbs of meat that I was processing in my kitchen. Not wanting to waste any I ground up the stringy leg meat for dog food and I canned it. The trouble was – I took a shortcut to save time- so I could get more done. We all take shortcuts – caffeine is a shortcut.

A week later there started to be a very bad smell in my house and my husband and I looked everywhere- examined the sewer lines- checked seals and fittings- did online research for clues as to what our horrible smell might be and our search went on for over a week. We finally decided that it must be dead mice in the wall since we had recently done some repair work.
I burned incense, bought a zillion plug ins, burned candles, but the stench was unbearable. No matter how clean, vacuumed, washed and waxed my house was- the stench was overwhelming.

And then I noticed the jars of dog food had slightly changed color. I opened one and wham! I had discovered the source of the stench. I had 8 or 9 pints of putrid meat in the kitchen with all of the seals broken and the contents bubbling.

As I was cleaning and washing the last of it- with every fan blasting and all of the windows opened- the thought came to me- “You have a stench in your life”. Now, I have learned to recognize when God gives me these thoughts and when they are my own. This one was certainly not my own. Timidly I asked, “what is it?’ and the answer came back- “cappuccino”.
Oh! Please God! Anything but that! Don’t ask me to give that up!!

I believe in my heart that God is sufficient to supply all of the energy I need and I had no doubt that being addicted to an earthly substance stinks to Him. I also believe that He is good and He does not withhold good from His children so logically I knew that His asking me to give it up would bless my life. But I admit that I grieved for the first couple of days and felt sorry for myself but it’s been two weeks today since God pointed to my stench and I seldom even think about it anymore. God enabled me to quit "cold turkey" with only moderate headaches for a few days. The stench was gone from my house and from my life in a very short time.

God is good and I want to glorify Him in every aspect of my life.