My youngest son has decided on a new favorite song recently that talks about God being good even in the hard times of life. I'm sure, at his age, that he really cannot even begin to comprehend what the song truly means. He is far too young to have experienced any of those hard times. Part of me wishes for him to never know those difficult seasons of life. The other part of me knows there is so much value -- so much to be learned by going through those difficult times. There is much that can only be learned by experiencing hard things. I also know that life does not happen for very long without those hard things. They do yield good things - if we let them. Psalms 119:67, 71 says: " Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. . . . . . It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes."
I'm thankful for a loving, all powerful God who makes those choices for our lives. He knows what is best! I can trust Him to do what is best both for me and for my children. I can pray, too, that my little son will always remember those words which he parades around singing; and that when the difficult times come, he will be looking for the goodness of God -- knowing with all his heart that God IS Good -- Even in the Valley.
