This post is from Moms Take Ten episode 147, Parenting in Scripture–Good in the Now, which you can listen to wherever you listen to podcasts or at https://sites.libsyn.com/403493/parenting-in-scripture-good-in-the-now
There was a song that I used to love. Each time it would come on, I’d find myself singing at the top of my lungs. I remember driving in the city of Chicago, on Lower Wacker for those of you that are familiar with that crazy under the city road, singing my heart out, and completely missing my turn. Which in Chicago, on that road, is not a good thing to do!
It was a song about the return of joy, which I desperately wanted. I still do. “There will be joy in the morning.” it sang. Psalm 30:5 teaches us this, saying, “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor, a lifetime. Weeping may stay overnight, but there is joy in the morning.” It’s that hope that drew my heart to sing. The hope of restoration. The hope that what is here is not all there is but better is coming. Joy is coming.
Then the part that really got me going, the part they sing over and over: if it’s not good, then He’s not done. No, He’s not done with it yet.
“Yes, Lord!” I’d think. “I want the good. I can’t wait for the good. How I look forward to that day!”
It was a couple months later, when I was once again on the road, and the song came on. This time, though, I didn’t find hope in the song. This time I got mad. “I know that one day it will all be good. I know that eternity with you is going to be amazing. But I’m here right now. Where’s the hope for right now?! Where’s the joy right now?! I can’t keep waiting for the good in some far distant future! I need it now.”
As I drove and emotions built and thoughts ran rampant, I felt the Lord say, “It’s already here.”
And that, Mama, is what I want to share with you today. In this last Parenting in Scripture episode before summer break, this is what I want to leave you to ponder on over the next few months. We touched on this briefly last month but I want to dive in a little deeper. This is a both/and sort of topic.
The good is already here.
The good is coming.
Both are true.
Remember Philippians 1:6? It’s a favorite of us believers, and for good reason. It says, “I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
The song, the song wasn’t wrong exactly. It was just only focused on that last part of the verse, that God will complete it one day. But the first part of the verse is our hope for the here and now. It says that he has already started to work in us and that the work that he started is good. Good. Right now. In us.
One day it will be completely good. Very good, if you will, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t also good today.
Think about the story of creation. The awe inspiring story of God creating the universe with his voice. “Let there be,” he says, and it was. Day by day, building block by building block, God put all that we now know as home together. Light and darkness. Sky and water. Land and seas. Plants. The lights in the sky. Creatures in the water, birds in the air, creatures on land. And what did he think about his work? When he paused to look upon what he had made, the Scriptures say, “God saw that it was good.”
Then we come to day six, our favorite day because it is here that we come to life, and we encounter a “not good.” God had made the male human, and put him to work in the Garden. Rather than saying it was good, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.” (Gen. 2:18). This not good moment didn’t cancel out all the good that was already there. No, of course not, all that was made to that point was still good. Adam himself was good. It just wasn’t good that he was alone. There was more work for God to do. Which he did, making woman out of man, uniting them together in perfect union. Then he looked upon it all and saw that it was “very good indeed.” (Gen. 1:31)
I think that sometimes we anchor our hope on when a situation will be fully resolved, when a child will be fully healed or will fully mature, when a sin will be completely defeated. When we have finally made it through the terrible, the hard, the darkness, then we will find joy in the morning.
Adam had to wait for the very good but while he waited there was goodness all around him and even in him. After all, he was made in the image of God himself. He bore the resemblance, the traits of his heavenly maker. And so do we, Mama. Isn’t that amazing?
And as believers, not only do we bear the image of God as a human being, but we are His masterpiece, His workmanship through the saving work of Christ. (Eph. 2:10). We are being made increasingly like Christ, day by day. The good work has already begun.
And not just the work that he is doing in us, sanctifying us, but His goodness is present in the world around us as it was with Adam. Not as perfectly, I’ll give you that. But still good.
And not just the good work he is doing in the world, but the fact that He himself is here with us. And he is good.
So,what does this mean for today?
I think, Mama, it means that we look for the good now while we also praying for the very good to come.
We look for it.
An intentional act of faith that shows God we believe his good work has already begun.
When our child misbehaves, what good can we see?
When the answer to pray seems to take so long, what good can we see?
When the sickness lingers or worsens, what good can we see?
When the job is difficult, what good can we see?
When the relationship continues to strain and burden, what good can we see?
Sometimes, I know because I’ve been there, we answer that question with “Nothing! I can’t see any good.” So then we look around us, outside the tunnel vision of our current situation, to remember what good looks like. We pause to gaze out the window at the trees budding and flowers growing, and maybe a bird flying through the sky. We text a friend and say, “tell me something good!” We pick up the word of God and we remind ourselves of the good written on its pages. And then we turn back to our situation with fresh eyes and hearts ready to find the good that already was but not yet seen.
I want to end by reading a few verses over you. You can find the references and versions in the show notes. Wherever you are, if it is safe to do so, close your eyes. If it isn’t that’s ok! But shift your posture somehow as a sign to your body to receive what it is about to hear. Breathe it in just for a moment.
I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart be courageous.
Wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:13-14 CSB)
For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (Zeph. 3:17, NLT)
I am confident that the Creator, who has begun such a great work among you, will not stop in mid-design but will keep perfecting you until the day Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, returns to redeem the world. (Phil. 1:6, The Voice)
You know, there are a lot of things that I do in my parent coaching that help myself, help other parents, see the good that God is doing in the here and now. We work on replacing our toxic beliefs with God’s grace-filled truths. We practice naming and calling out the gifts in our children that He placed in them. We look for the opportunities he is giving us to love them in their misbehavior and to guide them to reconciliation. We celebrate the big and little moments of good a lot! If this is an area that you want to grow in and you’d like some support, I’d love to chat with you! Head to my coaching page or connect with me on instagram.
Lyssa Stoyko 