Is God Really Good? / Pastor Randy Goldenberg / FCF Church

Aug 16, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Storms Are Named, But Sunsets Are Forgotten

Insurance policies list disasters as "acts of God," but creation itself—the taste of food, laughter, a child’s birth—is His truer resume. Goodness isn’t measured by momentary ease but by what endures: the universe He sustains, the mercy He pours on rebels, the breath He gives even to those who ignore Him. His fingerprints are on every ordinary miracle we take for granted, yet we often fixate on chaos while missing the constancy of His care. To call God good is to name the Giver behind every gift, even when storms distract us. [43:31]

“You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them.”
(Nehemiah 9:6, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you overlooked God’s daily “acts of goodness” this week? How might naming them reshape your trust in His character?

Day 2: If It Makes You Happy, Why the Hell Are You So Sad?

Cheryl Crow’s question exposes a tension: what feels good now often leaves emptiness later. God’s goodness isn’t a fleeting high but a slow transformation into Christlikeness, even when the process aches. Pain that drives us to depend on Him, like hitting rock bottom, becomes sacred ground. His definition of good prioritizes eternal joy over temporary relief, shaping us through trials we’d never choose. True goodness outlasts the moment. [46:11]

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
(John 15:10–11, ESV)

Reflection: What temporary “happiness” have you clung to that’s costing you deeper joy? How might surrender open space for Christ’s fullness?

Day 3: Rock Bottom Is a Window, Not a Grave

Psalm 107 repeats a pattern: rebellion leads to ruin, ruin leads to crying out, and crying out leads to rescue. God doesn’t wait for our perfection to act—He runs toward rebels. His goodness isn’t deterred by our using Him as a last resort; it’s who He is. Even when we treat Him like a crisis hotline, He answers, proving His love isn’t transactional. Desperation becomes a doorway to His faithfulness. [51:24]

“Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.”
(Psalm 107:19–20, ESV)

Reflection: When has God met you in a “last resort” moment? Where are you resisting crying out now, fearing He’ll withhold help?

Day 4: Becoming Good Is the New Feeling Good

Joy rooted in circumstances shatters; joy rooted in Christ survives crucifixion. God’s goal isn’t to make us comfortable but to make us holy—aligning our desires with His eternal reality. Every choice to obey, even when it hurts, chips away at our selfishness, replacing it with His nature. What feels like loss now is apprenticeship in living like Him: loving recklessly, forgiving fiercely, trusting stubbornly. [01:19:22]

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”
(2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV)

Reflection: Where is God asking you to trade a “feel good” choice for a “become good” choice? What scares you about that exchange?

Day 5: When Every Tear Becomes a Fossil

Revelation 21 isn’t fantasy—it’s the future. God will abolish pain, not by ignoring evil but by erasing its source. Today’s trials are birth pangs of that new world. His goodness is a promise: what He starts in us—the slow, messy work of making us like Jesus—He’ll finish. Our job is to hold loosely to temporary fixes and cling tightly to the One who makes all things new. [01:26:11]

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”
(Revelation 21:4–5, ESV)

Reflection: What ache or injustice makes you doubt God’s ultimate goodness? How might His promise to “make all things new” steady your heart today?

Sermon Summary

The question of God’s goodness starts with the strange little phrase people hear around insurance policies: “acts of God.” The usual list puts earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, and all the scary stuff under God’s name. The alternate list belongs there too: the universe, life, sight, smell, taste, laughter, beauty, love, and the birth of a child. That imbalance quietly raises the old human question: is God really good, and is he good in a way that actually matters?

The tension between feeling good and becoming good sits right at the center. A thing may feel good in the moment and still turn around later and feel very bad. The lyric, “If it makes you happy, then why are you so sad?” tells the truth that initial pleasure cannot define goodness. Good has to be tested by whether it is beneficial for everyone, everywhere, all the time.

Psalm 107 gives four cycles of human beings hitting bottom. Some wander in wastelands, some sit in darkness as prisoners, some suffer because of foolish and rebellious ways, and each group finally cries to the Lord in trouble. God comes running every time. The text does not pretend they deserved it or appreciated it properly. God rescues because that is who he is: unfailing love, wonderful deeds, mercy that acts even when human beings treat him like a last resort.

The goodness of God becomes clearer when goodness is measured by Christ. If everyone on earth woke up tomorrow morally, personally, and practically like Jesus, the world would instantly be better. Alarms, police, armies, abuse, exploitation, and so much human wreckage would disappear. The real problem is not that God is not good. The real problem is that human beings are not good, and God promises to judge evil, abolish it, and remake the world.

Isaiah’s “my ways are higher than your ways” does not mean God is impossible to understand. God has revealed himself in Scripture and fully in Christ. His higher ways mean he sees longer and wider than the immediate desire for comfort. Whatever draws a person toward Christ and reality is good, even when it initially feels bad. Whatever draws a person away from Christ and away from reality is evil, even when it feels wonderful at first.

Christ created human beings for himself, and in union with him all things find their proper place. God’s will is not a threat to joy. God’s will is the only path where becoming good and feeling good finally belong together forever.

Key Takeaways

1. Feeling good is not goodness Pleasure can make a strong argument in the moment, but the moment is a bad judge. A desire may promise relief, freedom, or happiness while quietly carrying a person away from reality and away from Christ. Goodness has to be measured by the long road, not the first taste. [45:08]
2. Rock bottom still gets mercy Psalm 107 shows people crying out only after they have run out of options. God knows when he is being treated like a last resort, yet he still rescues because his goodness is not petty. Mercy does not mean rebellion was harmless; mercy means God is better than the rebellion that brought the trouble. [54:32]
3. Goodness moves toward Christ The clean test is not whether something feels desirable, but whether it moves a person toward Christlikeness. Even pain can be good if it wakes the soul up to God, truth, and reality. Even success can be evil if it trains the heart to live farther from the Lord. [62:15]
4. Christ made people for himself Human worth does not come from achievement, attractiveness, usefulness, or public approval. Christ made human beings for himself, which means the deepest identity is relational before it is functional. A life only finds its proper place in union with the One who designed it. [71:06]
5. Joy grows through obedience Jesus spoke of joy on the same night betrayal, abandonment, and crucifixion stood before him. That kind of joy does not depend on circumstances behaving nicely. Obedience brings the soul into alignment with God, and that alignment creates a joy strong enough to stand inside sorrow. [81:52]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[41:29] - Acts of God and Insurance
[44:08] - Is God Really Good?
[45:08] - Feeling Good or Becoming Good
[47:18] - Psalm 107 and Desperation
[50:17] - God as a Last Resort
[53:53] - Four Cycles of Rescue
[56:05] - Defining What Good Means
[57:39] - If Everyone Became Like Jesus
[60:20] - God Wants to Be Understood
[62:15] - Discernment Toward Christ
[66:06] - God Preserves All Life
[71:06] - Created Through Christ and For Christ
[77:20] - Partakers of the Divine Nature
[86:11] - Everything Made New

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Psalm 107
“Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains, because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High. So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron. Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.” [47:18]

Isaiah 55:8-9
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” [01:00:20]

Colossians 1:16
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” [01:11:06]

John 15:10-11
“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” [01:21:52]

Observation questions

In Psalm 107, what kinds of trouble are described in the different scenes, and what repeated pattern shows up each time people cry out to the Lord? [53:53]
What does Psalm 107 say about why some people ended up in suffering, chains, or affliction?
In Colossians 1:16, what does it mean that all things were created both “through” Christ and “for” Christ? [01:11:06]
In John 15:10-11, what two things does Jesus connect together, and what result does he promise? [01:21:52]

Interpretation questions

Psalm 107 shows people turning to God when they have run out of options. What does that reveal about human hearts, and what does God’s repeated rescue reveal about his character? [50:17]
If goodness is measured by what is beneficial for everyone, everywhere, all the time, how does that challenge the usual way people decide whether something is good? [56:05]
Isaiah 55:8-9 says God’s ways are higher than human ways. How should that be understood when a person is facing something painful that does not feel good right now? [01:01:07]
Jesus speaks about full joy in the same passage where he calls his followers to obedience. Why might obedience and joy belong together more deeply than people first assume? [01:22:49]

Application questions

Many people treat God as a last resort. When in life has that been true personally? What usually has to happen before prayer becomes urgent and honest? [48:32]
Feeling good and becoming good are not always the same thing. What is one situation right now where immediate comfort is competing with long-term faithfulness? [45:08]
Whatever draws a person toward Christ and reality is good, even if it feels painful at first. Has there been a hard season, disappointment, or correction that later proved to be deeply good? [01:02:15]
Whatever draws a person away from Christ can look attractive at first. Is there a habit, relationship, ambition, or distraction that seems desirable but is slowly pulling the heart in the wrong direction? [01:02:51]
Christ made people for himself. How might daily life change if identity were shaped more by belonging to Christ than by success, usefulness, or other people’s approval? [01:11:06]
Some areas of life get quietly roped off from God. Is there a part of life where trust is spoken out loud, but resistance is still being practiced? What would surrender look like there? [52:50]
Jesus ties obedience to fullness of joy, not the loss of joy. Where might obedience feel costly right now, and what would it look like to believe that God’s will is not against joy but the path to it? [01:21:52]

Sermon Clips

72s

#WholeLifeSubmission

“even after we have become followers of Christ, which is saying we trust in God, do we not do we not rope off areas of our life? Do do we not let it rain? Do we not say, god, I'll listen to you here, here, and here. But there's no sense of you bothering to talk to me about this, this, and that, because I'm not gonna pay any attention to you. So on the one hand, we say, I trust you, Jesus. I'm following you except here, here, or in that situation, in that situation. And and we we live with this contradiction all too comfortably sometimes. Let's be honest. But but doesn't it indicate that on some level, we may not believe that God is really good? Because if we believe that he was really good, will we not believe that he is really good all the time and in everything that he asks of us? Well, we would theoretically.”

53s

#GoodnessForEternity

“``The Lord loves us too much to settle for merely making us feel good temporarily. He loves us too much. He's not gonna spoil his children. The Lord pursues our highest good by enabling us to become, what does it say? To become good and to become good forever. That radiates its own joy. The Lord promises a world, and this is the beautiful part, where being good and feeling good will never again be separated. In this world, can feel good and not be good, but you won't feel good for long. But he promises in the new world, we will feel good all the time. Everyone, everywhere, all the time. Because we will also be good everywhere, all the time. That is your calling. That is your destiny.”

42s

#BecomingLikeChrist

“Here's how we discern this. Whatever draws me, what does it say? Or Toward the moves me to become like Christ, that is good. Okay? No matter how bad it initially feels. Remember we started by saying, sometimes bottoming out, very unpleasant experience, going through some real mental, emotional, economic, all different kind of physical pain. Very unpleasant initially, but it often moves us toward the Lord, and that makes it good. So we gotta get this in our mind. Just because something feels good or in a moment, it doesn't mean that it is good unless it's moving us toward the Lord.”

46s

#ChooseBecoming

“Let me add another question. What do we really believe is more important? Now this is this is let us sink in. What do we believe is more important? Feeling or what? Now let that sink in. When we are eager to experience something, are we more eager to experience feeling good, things going the way we want them to at a certain time, giving us certain desirable experiences, or becoming good? What is actually more valuable to us? What what matters most? What will we put more, emphasis and energy into?”

50s

#IsGodReallyGood

“And it raises a question that I think every human being has had or still has lurking below the surface in some form. And the question is this. Is God, an emphasis on this word, really good? I mean, we'll all parent and say, of course, God is good. But could it be possible that deep inside of us on some subconscious level, if nothing else, there is this element of doubt? Is he really good? Or let me rephrase it. Is he good in a way that it matters or is understandable to me? Or is he good in some transcendent way that honestly just confuses me and I'm not sure feels pertinent?”

82s

#ImagineJesusEverywhere

“See, that's the real test. Because some things seem good in the moment, but they're not good, you know, a little bit later, kinda like Cheryl Crow's song, you know, that if it makes you happy, then why you end up so sad, you know. There there's there's some kind of a conflict there. are his will and his ways best for everyone, everywhere, all the time? I ask you a silly question. If tomorrow, everyone, everywhere woke up and they were exactly like Jesus, minus his miracle working power, but personality wise, morally wise, conduct wise, everyone, everywhere in the whole world were exactly like Jesus tomorrow. Would the world be better or worse? It's a no brainer. Right? Have you ever thought of the implications? What let let me get you thinking just a bit. Would we need, burglar alarms? What would we need? I'm not trying to put anybody out of jobs. Would we need police? Would we need soldiers? I I mean, we could just keep on going down the list. The world would instantly be dramatically, significantly better.”

62s

#GodWillJudgeEvil

“I mean, this is practical reality. We so so what we're saying, what we're admitting is that the biggest problems in the world, aside from, you know, the tornadoes and the earthquakes and the hurricanes and, you know, coronal mass ejections and all that, aside from that stuff, I'm the big problem in the world. You're the big problem. We're the big problem. Because we cause all the mess. I get so tired of people saying, what does god allow what does god allow criminal activity and war and child pornography and we're doing that stuff. He's not doing that. But what people mean is, why doesn't he intervene and stop it? Well, he promises he's absolutely going to do that. He's not only gonna intervene and stop it and abolish it, he's gonna abolish it forever. And he's also gonna judge every single human for our conduct on this planet. Nobody's gonna get away with anything. These things are not gonna go untouched.”

54s

#GoodForAllAlways

“His heart is good in ways that that just go beyond what we can actually comprehend. Because, you know, in his life, if you hear something that sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Right? But it's not the case with God. He's better than anything we can even comprehend. So let's take a second side to this question. Is he supremely and universally beneficial? Because remember we said for someone someone to be good, it's gotta be universally beneficial to everyone, everywhere, all the time, but it has to be eternally or, you know, beyond time. In other words, it's not just good today. It's gonna be good tomorrow and forever to really test if something is good. So the my other wording, will his will in his ways always, that's the key, always be the best for everyone, everywhere, all the time? That's a simple question, but it gets us right to the heart of the matter.”

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