Doubting God’s Goodness (Part 2)
May 6, 2026
In a previous post, I talked about my early-in-life doubts about God’s goodness and perceived powerlessness. This post will go back and provide background on what the Bible says about God’s goodness. I think the context will be useful for future entries.
Here is the scene. God and Moses were in the middle of a business meeting related to the ten commandments. Moses speaks a desire of his heart, which is to see the glory of God.
Exodus 33:18-19 and 34:5-7
And Moses said, I beseech You, show me Your glory. 19 And God said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim My name, The Lord, before you; for I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy and loving-kindness on whom I will show mercy and loving-kindness.
5 And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord! the Lord! a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy and loving-kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin… (AMPC)
I used to think of the glory of God as light radiating from Him that is brighter than the sun. A bright light that you can’t stand to look at. But God’s glory and the source of that light is His goodness! It is His mercy, grace, long-suffering, loving-kindness, and truth. The glory of God was so great that the effects of it lingered on Moses’ face and the people were afraid of it. It was too much for them to look at, so Moses veiled his face.
Exodus 34:29-33
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the Testimony in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face shone and sent forth beams by reason of his speaking with the Lord. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they feared to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and [he] talked with them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all the Lord had said to him in Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. (AMPC)
Evil, sin, and disobedience cannot co-exist in the presence of God. Sin is always overwhelmed and destroyed by God’s pure love and goodness. Because we are imperfect human beings, on our own merits, we cannot stand in the presence of God’s glory (goodness) and live. That is why we needed a Savior. Jesus was sent by God to destroy sin and death. We can stand in the presence of God because Jesus Christ gave us His righteousness. Acting as our High Priest, Jesus’ sacrifice washed away our sin and unworthiness, so we are restored to a right relationship with the Father. We can stand before God only when we accept Christ’s redemption. Hebrews 4:16 beautifully describes how believers can take full advantage of the goodness of God our Father.
Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]. (AMPC)
My early personal doubts about God and His goodness were based on my own experiences. However, I have since discovered that my experiences DO NOT negate God’s goodness. His glory and goodness don’t cease to exist just because I can’t feel it today. They are always there and will be there forever. The message of the Gospel is that our good God has made a way for us to know and experience His goodness in this life and the next life. This is indeed Good News!
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Your Word says You are only good and that Your glory is Your goodness. Open my heart and mind to truly and finally understand this truth, no matter what happens in my life. Wipe away my doubt and fear and bring to me only faith born of truth. I ask you this in the name of Jesus, My Savior. Amen.