In life, there are certain things that you can just know for sure. For instance, given the choice between carrot cake and a brownie, I will choose the brownie 99-1/2 times out of 100 (the other percentage is when my wife is standing nearby and reminds me of my blood pressure or cholesterol). Another one is this, I love my kids. Are they perfect? No way. Do I get angered, frustrated or discouraged by their behavior? You better believe it. But it never changes how much I love them. Nor does it change how much I want to bless them as they grow.

Even more certain than these facts is this statement: God is good. For those of you reading this blog who just received a raise, won your ball game, woke up on the right side of the bed or married into the right family, you are echoing your "amens" to that statement.

For the rest, the ones of us who are living in the middle of "questionable" events in our lives...we need to be reminded. You know who I am talking about. The man who requested prayer for the mistakes that he made that may cost him his family. The lady whose husband has died and left her to raise the family on her own. The couple who is caring for their aging parents, feeling the financial strain that hangs in the balance between life and death. The teen who has screwed up so bad so early in life that he wonders if his damaged life will ever be good again. For all of you, take confidence in this fact--God is indeed good.

In fact, the Bible says that there is nothing bad found in Him. Nothing. While that fact alone should give us great confidence, here is another that may change your outlook at your present situation. God wants you to be like Him. ("Be imitators of God" Ephesians 5:1) What does that mean for your marriage? your family? your future? Because God is good and he wants you to be the same, you can have absolute confidence that whatever you are going through has been allowed into your life to refine you and reshape you. If your life is surrendered to God, He is working through every situation to make you like Him. Every situation. Does that mean God caused it? Know. Does that mean that God wanted you to have to go through this? Not necessarily. What it does mean is that, just like with my children, He will use whatever means necessary to teach you, train you, discipline and correct you. That includes the present events in your life.

So, for those of you chest deep in trouble, don't leave His side. Don't give up or give in or give out. God will bring you out on the other side if you will just trust in His goodness. And the person who emerges on the other side will be someone new, someone stronger, someone more like Christ--good...very good.