My church is doing a series called Non-Negotiable. And a good friend told me she wished the blogger she followed would post more. So Kim, this one is for you!

The Non-Negotiable idea got me thinking about what things in my life are non-negotiable. I came up with a few, and then I started thinking, “What are my non-negotiable with God?” I boiled it down to one big one that I think is very applicable to life right now mid-pandemic (are we in the middle or the end or who knows where we are in this mess?) That aside, here it is – my big non-negotiable: God is always, always good and loving. There you have it. But allow me to explain. How we think about God determines a lot of how we live. If we think He doesn’t really care or that there is no God, we throw caution to the wind and “party like it’s 1999”. If we believe He is judgmental and always looking for us to mess up, we live in fear and strive for perfection. If we believe we have to earn His love, we spend our life trying to find ways to do better, to help more, to give more, never feeling at rest because there is always more to be done.

But if we live believing He is good and loving then we are at ease and feel free to be ourselves. But how do we process a God who is loving and good in the midst of death, financial ruin, chaos, riots, and strange viruses. Again, the answer is simple. Pre-determine that God is good and loving and kind.

I am prepping to do a Bible study on our thought life. Which has led me to read a book on the mind and how our brain works. I am by no stretch of the imagination a girl of much science. I still get amused at baking soda and vinegar volcanos. But science is fact. And according to many super smart scientists, what you think determines your actions and actually changes the chemistry of your brain. For more on this topic, do the study by Jennie Allen, Get Out of Your Head, or read the book by Dr.Caroline Leaf, Switch on Your Brain.

Ok, back to the point. God is good and loving. I said you have to pre-determine this. What I mean is before life takes a turn for the worse, you have to already know in your mind and in your heart this truth. It has to be decided on as a sure thing. If not, when things go bad, or life isn’t what you wanted or expected you will lose your footing and find yourself hopeless.

I have lived this truth out more than once in my life. The year 2015 was one of the harder years of my life. My son was sick and doctors couldn’t tell us why, but they did keep throwing around the C word a lot. We spent a lot of time and money to see every -ologist there is at Children’s Hospital; had surgery, did a biopsy all to find nothing really. On top of all that I had my 3rd foot surgery and was in a walking boot while pushing my 15 year old in a wheelchair into these appointments.

I lived it out again in 2018 when I lost a dear friend to cancer, watched another friend walk through divorce, our church staff changed dramatically, and finally the death of my dad.

And the last one – 2020. It started out rocky for me on a personal note that I’d rather not mention. Then COVID hit, my son missed his graduation, my daughter missed junior prom, SATs and ACTs were canceled making applying to college a little rough. And all the other issues you all have been experiencing right along side me this year.

Isaiah 50:7 says, “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me. I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint and I know I will not be put to shame.” Two things from this verse help us pre-determine God is good and loving. First the Sovereign Lord, meaning the God who is always in control. Nothing in our lives catches God by surprise, and nothing in our lives is waisted time or events. God uses it all. The second is set my face like flint – means set in rock, un-changeable, it also means pre-disposition.

The Bible is full of verses about God’s goodness and love for mankind. In Jeremiah 29:11 it says that He knows the plans He has for us, and those are good plans.

The best part is you can change the way you view God at any point. Changing how you view Him will change your disposition. If you believe He is good regardless of what is happening around you, then you can stand in the middle of a mess and say God is good and someway, somehow He will use this for good, even if I never see how.

Think about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from Daniel chapter 3. These men had set their faces and hearts like flint when they said, “O Nebuchadnessar we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescuce us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not we want you to know Of king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18

I don’t know what the rest of this year brings. I don’t know what will happen. I don’t know how God can use this, but I do know He will; and He is good and loving and that is non-negotiable to me. Will you make it non-negotiable to you?