All That Is Good

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you” (John 16:23).  David Clarkson says things about this promise, and others like it, that I think we all need to hear: “This is the great privilege of those whom Christ loves; nothing shall befall them, but what shall prove good for them.  They may conclude, in whatever condition they are in, it is best for them, and if it had not been so, they would never have been brought into it; and whenever it shall cease to be so, they shall be removed out of it.  This is the sweetest privilege, yet the most difficult to believe at all times, since there is often great opposition to it by our sense and reason.”  I’m sure glad he said that.  It is indeed very difficult to believe.  Yet all of Scripture calls us to believe things equally amazing.  If we do not believe such promises, we are casting doubt on God’s character; which soon leads us to question everything in the Bible.  If it were good for us to have no afflictions, the love of Christ would instantly abolish them.  If possessing all of the kingdoms of the world were good for us, they would be ours.  Christ’s love will not deny us anything that is good (Psalm 84:11).