When I joined this blog, I was told I could write about things in my daily life as a Christian. This makes the topics I can explore extremely broad, which is a help, given that I’m interested in exploring so many things. Part of my daily living is analyzing and pondering things that come my way.

It took until I had two grown kids for me to learn that my way of looking at things isn’t the usual manner most people go about looking at things. Apparently, my outlook is more analytical than most people’s. Go figure. And apparently my adult kids are just as analytical as me because they’ve been spending their spare time lately playing a Table Top Simulator of a Dungeons and Dragons game my youngest created. He’s a great storyteller, he just does it differently than me. I like mine cloaked in sweet romance. He likes his cloaked in fantasy. Go figure.

So anyway, I’ve been pondering something lately—a relatively new to me phrase.

When I first heard “God is Good. God is Good All the Time,” it was fairly recently, probably within the last two or three years. At the time I heard it, the phrase completely resonated within me. It felt right and, dare I say it, good. I didn’t question then where the phrase originated. I just thought it rang true.

But after hearing it again and again, more frequently, from people all over the country, I became curious about where it originated. How did the phrase go from a one-off to viral in such a short time?

So, of course, I searched for it on –Duck Duck Go.

(Bet you expected me to say, Google. I like my privacy, so I use Duck Duck Go whenever I can. I preferred Google before they became a verb (Googled).)

The search results were interesting.

They included recent sermons pertaining to the phrase.

They included a Wiki from 2017 about how the phrase originated in African American Christian churches as a “Call-and-Response.”

Then I found a song, dated 2001, authored by Dean McIntyre, entitled God is Good, All the Time! using the phrase as well, and mentioning that the phrase was often used as a “Call-and-Response” during church services.

So I’m assuming it’s factual that the phrase originated from the African American Christian community.

The phrase makes me happy inside, which is probably the intended result and why it actually became an oft repeated phrase that went viral. It makes God’s children feel good. It’s a reassurance.

Yes, God is Good. God is Good all the time!

Sometimes we need to have it pointed out to us, so we can take time to be grateful for all the Lord does for us. Sometimes we need the simple reassurance, especially in times of trouble. So even when something we perceive as bad happens, it’s part of a great plan by God—a good plan.

At this moment in time, in our country’s history, we particularly need the reassurance. Has your child ever asked you, “Why does God let bad things happen?”

It’s important to remember that God is Good All the Time. The bad stuff comes from the dark side, not from God. But sometimes really wonderful things come as a result of things we perceive as bad. Like the phoenix rising from the ashes. Sometimes we need devastation to enter the rebirth. It’s the nature of life as we know it. As a result, we need to embrace change because we know that we will have the opportunity for growth as a result.

This has been a huge struggle for me. I like to avoid surprises. I like for things to happen as I expect them to ahead of time. I like to be able to plan things out. I like for life to flow in the direction I expect it to. And, you know as well as I do, that life isn’t like that, no matter how in depth I analyze it.

We need to anticipate change.

Perhaps my boys (adults though they are) are better at dealing with life than I am, since their simulated game embraces unexpected change. It includes deliberate misconceptions. It embodies the fact that appearances can be deceiving.

No wonder they seem to struggle less than me when dealing with life’s punches.

In the meantime, I intend to spend more time being thankful and in prayer, and less time trying to plan out exactly what is going to happen next. God sends his blessings no matter how prepared I may or may not be!