It’s easy to get used to seeing things in a very specific way, especially when you look at the world and see all the things that are happening. One phrase keeps coming up in my mind: the world is on fire. And when you see the memes and hear the conversations, you know it’s something other people are thinking about too.
There is real chaos in the world. There’s real chaos in our country, in our cities, and in neighborhoods. Some people will say that things aren’t more chaotic or that things aren’t really changing—we just have more ways of finding out about what’s happening. They say there have always been earthquakes, always been wars, always been disasters. We just never heard about them before; now we get information so much faster because of the internet.
But here’s the thing: things are more chaotic. Things are crazier. Things are ramping up more and more. You just have to be paying attention. And a lot of people don’t want to pay attention because they don’t like the way that feels. They don’t like knowing that things are chaotic and that it affects their lives. They’d rather live in a bubble.
Holding the Tension Between Chaos and the Goodness of God
With all of that said, we’ve got to keep things in perspective. We’ve got to keep the tension. All the craziness that is out there in the world—we’ve got to keep it balanced with the goodness of God. There’s a lot of chaos out there, and we need to be very real about that. We need to identify it and acknowledge that stuff is going on. But at the same time, that stays in tension with the goodness of God.
There’s a scripture that’s so important to memorize: Psalm 27:13 says, “I am certain I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.”
What Does It Mean to Be Certain?
“I am certain” means “I believe” and “I have faith.” There are some things in this life we are certain of. We’re certain we’re going to pay taxes and certain we’re not going to like it. We’re certain we’re going to get older. We’re certain that eating fast food isn’t good for us, even though it’s very convenient. We are always certain of things.
But we have to be certain of the things of God. We have to be certain of who we are in God. We are God’s people and we belong to Him, but we don’t always live like that. We don’t always live like we belong to the Lord. We have more belief in other things in life than in who we are in God.
For instance, you go to the doctor, you’re not feeling good, and they give you a diagnosis that it’s cancer. What does everybody believe the minute they hear those words? They start to believe it’s a death sentence. The usual response is wondering how much time is left. Or when your car breaks down, immediately you start calculating—this is going to cost a lot of money. You don’t get out of the car shop for less than $500.
Sometimes it’s just something simple. There was a time when my truck stalled out, and after popping the hood, the problem was just a loose battery cable. Put it back on, tightened it down, and everything was fine. All that stress and worry for nothing. We have so much belief about the things of this world, but we don’t have the same belief and the same type of faith in the things of God.
What Does It Mean to See?
“I will see” means to perceive, to consider, to inspect. We are people who respond to the visible and being able to see. But we’re not only supposed to see the tangibles—we’re also supposed to see the eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” We need to make sure that we see with not only our physical eyes but our spiritual eyes as well. As believers, we get to see both the seen and the unseen, the temporal and the eternal. That should make a difference in how we see things here and now.
In John 3:9-12, Jesus got on to Nicodemus and the religious leaders because they didn’t understand this spiritual aspect. Jesus said, “If I have told you about things that happen on earth and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about things of heaven?” Even more so as believers on this side of the resurrection with the Holy Spirit, we should see the movement and the things of God right here, right now.
Are you certain that you’re seeing the things of God? As you look around and see all the chaos and craziness, are you certain you’re seeing what God is doing? Sometimes we don’t want to see the things of God, and we close our eyes or get away from Him. That’s not where a believer wants to be. You want to be close to the things of God so you can see what He’s doing. That is what builds faith. That is what encourages you to continue on.
Understanding the Lord’s Goodness
We often think about the Lord’s discipline—God’s jealousy, the Israelites wandering for 40 years, plagues, and conquering armies. But that is not what God wants. That’s not how He wants things to go. Those things happen because people aren’t living the way they were supposed to be living.
God set up the Jews to be blessed and to be a blessing to the rest of the world. But they got their eyes off of the things of God and became engulfed in the things of this world. God disciplines us and comes at us to get us back on track because He loves us and wants us to live right. He wants to bless us.
Romans 2:4 says, “Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and restraint and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” God’s kindness is about getting us on track and bringing us back. It’s all about repenting so we can get on track with Him and be blessed.
The Israelites coming out of Egypt, out of 400 years of slavery, were going to a land flowing with milk and honey. If only they had listened and not strayed. If only they had kept their eyes on the things of God and not looked at what was around them. They would have entered the land and wouldn’t have spent 40 years wandering in the desert.
God’s Goodness Is All Around Us
This is why it’s so important to be certain that you see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living—because the Lord’s goodness is all around us every single day. His blessings are around us every single day.
Psalm 34:8-14 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him! You who are His holy ones, fear the Lord, for those who fear Him lack nothing.” That fear isn’t being scared—it’s attributing awesomeness to God. “Young lions lack food and go hungry, but those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing. Come, children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who delights in life, loving a long life to enjoy what is good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech. Turn away from evil and do what is good. Seek peace and pursue it.”
God has set us up for blessing. He has set us up for goodness. In fact, His goodness and kindness are built into what the Holy Spirit produces in our lives. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
God wants us to see His goodness, to see His blessings, and He wants us to be a part of that. He wants that to be a part of this life we’re living right now because that’s the way we’re going to be living for all eternity—and we can experience it right now.
Blessings in the Land of the Living
A lot of times when people start talking about faith, they say they know they will see the Lord and be blessed when they get to heaven. That’s very true—we’re going to be very blessed. Going to heaven is awesome, and honestly, we can’t wait. But there are blessings here right now. They might not look the way you think they should because the world has certain ideas of how things should play out, but God’s ideas are so much different, so much higher than ours.
There’s no doubt that heaven is going to be awesome. It will be living on a whole other level we can’t even comprehend. But we get to see God’s goodness here and now in the land of the living. What we need are eyes to see the goodness of God and not just see all the craziness. Keep it in balance. There’s that tension—we know the world is getting crazy and we know things are happening—but we see the goodness of God right in front of our eyes as well.
Choosing to See the Things of God
In Matthew 13:10-17, Jesus was talking to the people in parables, and the disciples asked Him why. Jesus answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them.” At first read, this seems exclusive. But Jesus continues in verse 12: “For whoever has, more will be given to him and he will have more than enough. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
If we’re playing games with God—knowing the things of God, knowing exactly what He expects from us, tasting that the Lord is good, and then starting to play games—even what we have had will be taken away. That’s a scary place to be, but there are so many people there. So many people who claim to be godly, so many people who claim to be Christians, are right there.
Jesus says, “For this reason, I speak to them in parables because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand.” There’s a prophecy from Isaiah that’s quoted many times in the New Testament. The truth is, people don’t care. People don’t want to see. They hear the word of God over and over again, but they choose not to accept it. They choose not to live inside of it. They hear about God, but they also see a whole different way of living and choose that instead.
God says, “If you don’t want my way, that’s fine. I’m going to take that away and give it to other people.” Isaiah’s prophecy says, “You will listen and listen and never understand. You will look and look and never perceive. For the people’s heart has grown callous. Their ears are hard of hearing and they have shut their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn back, and I will cure them.”
But here’s the beautiful thing: if you ever turn back to God, He’s going to hear you. He’s going to heal you. Jesus told the disciples, “Your eyes are blessed because they do see, and your ears because they do hear. For I assure you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see, yet didn’t see them, to hear the things you hear, yet didn’t hear them.”
Staying Close to the Things of God
“I am certain I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living” if you choose to see it. If you choose to be connected to the things of God. If you stay close to the things of God. If you love the things of God more than the things of this world, you will see the goodness of the Lord here in the land of the living.
We don’t want to be like the people who played games with the things of God. We don’t want to be like the people in the Old Testament. We don’t want to be people today who might be going to church, hearing stuff, liking things on Facebook, but aren’t truly living for the things of God. If you want to see the Lord’s goodness, stay close to the things of God. Keep your faith tuned in to what God is doing, and walk in the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit.
Good Times and Hard Times
There are times in our lives, times in history, that should not dictate how we respond to the things of God. God warned the people of Israel in Deuteronomy before they entered the promised land. He said in Deuteronomy 6:10-12, “When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give you—a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build, houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, wells dug that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you eat and are satisfied, be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.”
God was saying, “In good times, when things are going well and you feel like you don’t need me, don’t forget the things of God. Don’t forget me, don’t forget what happened and how things went down, because that continues the blessing. You continue to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
But when times are bad, when you’re hurting, when there’s chaos, you don’t forget the Lord either. In 1 Samuel 13, King Saul was fighting the Philistines and got very concerned. The Philistines had a great army, and Saul’s men were getting scared, running away, hiding in caves, crossing over the Jordan, getting as far away as they could. Saul was losing his men to fear.
So he took matters into his own hands. He took the sacrifice and offered it himself because he was waiting for Samuel, the prophet, who should have performed the sacrifice to get God’s favor before battle. But Saul didn’t wait for the things of God. He took it upon himself. He was certain that he would see his own goodness in the land of the living.
When Samuel arrived, he said, “What have you done? You did something you were not supposed to do. This was left for the prophets, for me to do, not for you.” In times of chaos and worry, King Saul forgot the Lord’s goodness. He forgot everything God had done for him. He was more concerned about the people of this world than what God thought. He cared more about what men thought of him than about God, who had put him in that place as king.
Audit Your Life
Whether you are in a good time in your life or the struggle of your life, that should not change how you live. “I am certain I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.” Because you can be certain that one day you’re going to see the Lord’s goodness in the land of heaven too.
Psalm 27:13 is a scripture we all need to memorize, get into our hearts and minds, and live by. If you audited your life right now, what would it say according to Psalm 27:13? What would your life say today if you put it up against this verse?
God doesn’t want us to live in pain or grief or unhappiness. Some of that will happen in this world, but that’s not where He wants us to stay. That’s not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is heaven, but at the same time, He wants what is good for you right now.
Adjust the way you see and see what happens. Stay close to the things of God. Keep your faith tuned in to what He is doing. Walk in the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit. And be certain—truly certain—that you will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.
Peace,
Todd