Have you ever felt like you were trying to be good or do good and things didn’t seem to turn out good despite your goodness? It’s as if good wasn’t good enough.
Today, in our series of Life Can Be Tough, But God Is Good, I want to speak from 1 Kings 17:8-24 on the thought “When Good Doesn’t Seem Good Enough”.
When I was growing up there was one thing that I learned quickly in my family and that was the fact that my dad made all the decisions and his word was not just the final word, it was the only word. My dad did a lot of work from our house and around our house, so I always had to help him with whatever he was doing. Since I knew my dad expected everything to be done right and his way, I always tried to do good and to be good. There was one problem I kept experiencing and that was my good didn’t seem to be good enough. Sometimes in life, that seems to carry over to our relationship with God.
Let’s look at 1 Kings 17:8-24 NKJV and see the experience of a widow during the drought that occurred with Elijah and what we learn about why we feel like being good doesn’t seem good enough.
- We Focus On What We Don’t Have Instead Of What God Can Do. V.12.
The widow responded to Elijah about what she didn’t have and that was her main focus. Many times when things are not going well, we focus on what we don’t have instead of what God can do. - We Finalize Our Story Before God Is Finished On His Side. V.12.
The widow not only focused on what she didn’t have, but she had already written out her story end in her mind. She was only seeing the negative and not considering what God might have going on His side of her story. Do you tend to do the same in your life? - We Fear The Moment While God Is Preparing For A Miracle. V.17-18.
When everything went wrong relating to the widow’s son, she feared the moment and didn’t consider that God may be preparing a miracle in her life. We lean towards fearing the moments in our lives that look bad and don’t consider that things have to be bad for God’s miracles to be evident. Maybe God is preparing a miracle in your life now.
The widow tried to do good for Elijah, but it seemed that her “good” was not good enough and she experienced the worst with her son dying. In the end, she actually experienced a miracle. Why do we get to the point that we think our good is not good enough? It can be because of the roller coaster of good and bad, the weariness of physical exhaustion, or the emotional stress.
When things seem like they’re not going well, remember that God may be bringing something good or even miraculous into your life. Don’t give up, but keep your faith and trust in God.
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