I Don't Want More. I Want Good.

In the beginning, there was nothing. The earth was void and without any substance. There was darkness. But then...

God created light. And it was good.

God created the sky. And it was good. 

God created land and all things green. And it was good.

God created the stars, moon, and sun. And it was good.

God created birds and fish. And it was good.

God created furry animals and less furry people. And it was very good.

What exactly does "good" mean anyway? 

How was dinner? Eh, it was good.

How was the movie? It was good. *shoulder shrug*

How was school? Ummmm...it was good.

In the words of the brilliant Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

When God created the world (the world!) he described his creation as "good". The most magnificent of works and the bible labels them simply as "good".

I think we as a culture want more than good. We want better. We want best! We want awesome and fabulous! And perfect! We want more.

But what happened to just wanting good?

Good means "pleasing or agreeable".

And I don't know about you, but that's what I want from life. Things that are pleasing in the sight of God. Things that are agreeable to him.

We've gotten ourselves into a rut. The rut of striving. Ugh, striving is so hard. I hate striving. But still we strive for more, More, MORE! 

But I don't want more. I want good.

I want the simple, the good. The genuine. The things that come from God alone. Because his goodness is the ultimate. 

The simple goodness of God far surpasses the fabulous, perfectness of the world. We've been called to live higher than the plastic, fabricated, money-grasping, more-seeking spirit of this world. 

We've been called to the good that comes from God. Prayer, friendship, human connection. We've been called to look out windows at a still, white washed world and praise God for snow. We've been called to sit by the fire with our people and talk and play and praise God for humanity. We've been called to get on our knees and worship the God who included us in his plans and purpose.

Wow, these things are so good. So very good. 

Why not, in this new year, stop wanting more? Stop doing more. Stop buying more. Planning more. Worrying more. 

Why don't we just wake up every day and live in the good, simple truth that God has given us good things already? And my only job is to see them, wrap my arms around them, and enjoy them.

Can we stop striving this year? Can we stop yearning for more? Can we just be good with having God's goodness? Oh, because it's there. He has breathed his beautiful goodness into every facet of your life, dear one. 

And he will look down from his heavenly throne and see us enjoying the riches of his goodness and he will say, you guessed it...

It is good.