In my last post, I wrote about the sea—water that God brought from disorder to order. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2). After creating the light and the sky, God brought order to these waters: “And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:9-10). Bringing order from disorder was something that at the very Beginning, God Himself did and called good. Our God is God of order: “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people” (1 Corinthians 14:33, NLT).
I’ve had the privilege of helping to bring more order to other people’s lives in the form of their writing, their homes, and their offices. Every time, I get the satisfaction of knowing that bringing order is doing some real good, because God called order good! There are many other things that God calls doing good: “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:17). There have been times when helping to bring order in people’s spaces also became an act of fighting spiritual oppression in their lives. I do not take those moments lightly. It pleases God when we choose to lend the good gifts God has given us out of His great kindness to us, without expecting a return for ourselves. “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (Hebrews 13:16). When we do good, it points people to Him.
One thing that I have learned from studying the Bible that keeps coming back to me is that God is interested in the good of everyone. Good for the whole world, that’s what He wants and worked through Jesus to accomplish on the cross. He wants to see everyone benefit, not just a few. He’s in the business of mercy and salvation for the whole world, and that hasn’t changed. And He calls His followers to do the same: “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone” (1 Thessalonians 5:15). Do good to everyone. What a convicting and powerful command!
May we all find the ways that God has gifted each one of us, and take heart to do the good that we were made to do for the benefit of everyone, according to His will. Amen.
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness” (Psalm 37:3).
“Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14).
“And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same” (Luke 6:33).
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