When I was growing up in Kenya, it seemed like we sang this song almost every time we would get together with a group of Christians. One of the things we liked to do was to sing it in the language of everyone present. When you get a group of Africans together, there are always at least two or three languages represented, and usually many more than that. Often it would take a long time to get through everyone's language, affirming again and again that God is so good.
When we traveled to churches in the States, this song was the one my brothers and I had to sing, dressed in our matching clothes, in three languages. We'd sing it in English, Kipsigis, and Swahili. Man, we were cute. I even remember one time when both my brothers refused to sing and I did a solo. (I'm guessing neither of my brothers remembers this.)
I sometimes think that I spent my childhood singing this song and the rest of my life learning how true it is. Aaron has it right in his post (here it is again in case you didn't go read it from the link in the first paragraph). He points out that life is very difficult for most people in Haiti, and that it might be easy to think that God hasn't been very good to this country and its people.
"And yet, God repeatedly shows himself to be not only good to the Haitian people, but good to me in a thousand daily ways. I see him meet needs and work miracles and provide supernaturally on a regular basis. I see him in the faces and the lives of the Haitian men and women that we work side-by-side with who trust him and love him simply because he is God. It's easy to say “God is good” when all your needs are met. But to see these men and women love and worship God even when many needs go un-met...when some of their needs will never be met...is humbling."
I have said it so many times on this blog, but I'll say it again: God is so good to me. Since the earthquake I have been aware in a brand new way of how much God loves me and how very good He is to me. Each blessing in my life became inexpressibly precious when I came so close to losing them all. And in that terrible time, God met my needs each day and comforted my heart through His goodness, shown to me over and over through His people.
God is so good. I hope you experience that today, too.
5 comments:
Thank you, Ruth.
So true. I haven't heard this song in awhile. It's very simple, a very simple truth in the midst of very complex human experience.
I wish I could picture people as children. When I try to picture you singing with your brothers, I picture adult heads on very small bodies. Oh well.
Following up on what Janet said, this post definitely needs a picture of you and your brothers standing on a stage singing this song... :^)
p.s. I think it's cool that you all would sing the song in every language represented by the group! Unfortunately, in most churches I've attended, we would have finished that up in one round. We attended a bar mitzvah at a conservative synagogue this summer, and the thing that impressed me the most about the service was all the reminders about God's power and mercy.
Re: the solo. You're right; I don't remember. But I do remember having to sing the song in three languages again and again and again. Praying, Tricia, that there are no pictures.
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