Goodness of God

We sat together on Sunday to fill the void left by the inability of the congregation of EEGC to meet.

Steeve led us. He started singing “Goodness of God.”

These lyrics came fairly easily to my lips:

I love You, Lord
For Your mercy never fails me
All my days, I've been held in Your hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

And all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

Then we moved on to the next stanza.

I love Your voice
You have led me through the fire
In the darkest night
You are close like no other
I've known You as a Father
I've known You as a Friend
And I have lived in the goodness of God

And I couldn’t sing these words. Not because I don’t believe them, but how could I sing them as I sat at the table with six people who are living in the fire, who are living in the darkest night, five of whom have never known a father?

The tears flowed. And I mouthed words my voice couldn’t sing.

It’s often easy to sing words from the comfort of an American church building, fitting them neatly into our #blessed culture. But those same words hit differently when they are put in a setting where they are actually being lived out, where people’s blessings often don’t look the way we as outsiders expect blessings to look.