He is Good, No Matter What

This post was written over three years ago and somehow got buried in a "drafts" folder. I just stumbled upon it, it resonated with me, and so here it is. S is now four years old, with a few eye problems that she might have had even if she wasn't born so prematurely. Thankful for His goodness, and want to continue to be so even when things don't go so smoothly...

When S came at 27 weeks, weighing 1 lb. 15 oz, oh how we prayed. Hundreds of Christians around the world got on their knees and brought our baby before the Lord. We prayed for her healthy growth, for weight gain, for no added complications.

He answered them. Mercifully, S got off light. At two days old she was off the ventilator and on the nasal cannula. She never contracted NEC, didn't show even the slight beginning stages of ROP, was free of bleeding on the brain. Her PDA closed on its own, and in fact she never required surgery for anything. If you're not a preemie parent, that was a lot of gobbeldy-gook that basically means she had the simplest and most straightforward outcome we could hope for.

The worst she walked away with was a Chronic Lung diagnosis and an at home oxygen tank, which she came off of at 4 months old. Doctor's appointment after doctor's appointment gave only positive feedback. The neurologist who saw her at 6 months told me how lucky we were, that for being born 13 and a half weeks early, she is perfect. And I told him the glory goes to God.

People told me they were praying. I shared how S was improving, and they exclaimed, "God is so good!" And He is. He definitely is. I am so very thankful for my daughter's health and well-being.

But it is vitally important to me that God be called good whether S ended up healthy or not. If He chose to take her life, would we still praise Him as good? If she had suffered major complications that had affected her the rest of her life, would we still call Him good?

This was my number one concern. Because God is good whether my life circumstances are or not. God is good when we are healthy, and just as good when we are sick. God is good when the sun is shining, and just as good when it is dark and stormy.

His ways are higher than ours, and when things look a mess down here, from His view it is all working together for a far greater weight of glory.

Are you praising the all-good God today? Will you praise Him as good no matter what trial He places before you?