Good Never Rests

I was a sophomore in high school who had just turned the much anticipated age of 16, anxious to drive all over creation whenever I wasn't in school. That morning I sluggishly walked through the hallways of Blue Valley West High School, on a somewhat normal, overcast September day. My random thoughts were interrupted by the voice of a friend telling me about an airplane flying into a building in New York. I remember first thinking that she was crazy, because she was a bit of an exaggerator. But, as I watched the coverage on TV in my next class and saw a second plane fly into another building, I knew this was no exaggeration or accident. I left school in the middle of class (something I did a little too often, ha) so I could go home and watch TV.

The next few days were like a blur. It was so surreal. I remember the constant news coverage, "Attack on America" and niavely wondered if it was the end of the world.

It took nearly ten years, but now the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks has been brought to justice and killed. Last night, as I fell asleep, I wondered what the familes of the victims of 9/11 were feeling. Did the news open up a jar of old feelings? Did it give them a long-awaited sense of peace, justice and closure? Are they numb to the news? CIA Director, Leon Panetta, said, "Nothing will ever compensate for the pain and suffering inflicted by this mass murderer and his henchmen. But just as evil never rests, neither does good. May the fact that Usama Bin Ladin no longer inhabits the earth be a source of comfort for the thousands of families, here in America and around the globe, who mourn the victims of Al Qaeda's barbarity."

But just as evil never rests, neither does good. Wow. I love that.

Romans 8:28 says,"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

My thought today is simply this - we can never screw up our lives too much for God. Why? Because God NEVER, never, never stops working good for us. It doesn't matter how much of our lives have been consumed by sin. It doesn't matter how many wrong decisions we have made. It doesn't matter if we have been wronged by others. It does not matter how ashamed we feel. God never stops working good. He never rests. Does that strike you as such a profound thought?

Sometimes I am consumed by worry - what if I don't put enough money into savings each month? What if I don't get back into ministry, the passion of my heart? What if I get stuck? What if I don't sell my house in time? Today, I realize my anxieties are nothing to God, because He hasn't rested from rearranging the pieces of my life to work "good" from it.

Of course there are consequences to sin and bad decisions, but God is anxious to forgive a sincere heart. He is anxious to restore. 2 Chronicles 7:14 states, "Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore..."

Today, as I hear about the great victory for America, I will remember -

Good NEVER rests.