A Christian Platitude that Doesn't Always Perform

Over the last year the phrase "God is good" has grated in my mind as though long fingernails were screeching on an old-fashioned chalkboard. I posted a little dity on facebook asking, "Why is it that when Christians share the crap (bad stuff) going on in their lives they usually end it with some rendition of "BUT, God is good."

I got a number of very good responses to my inquiry but it still didn't settle the question for me. It does still make me uncomfortable when the phrase is uttered. I've thought and thought about it and today I think I may have some notion of why this is so.

I think that much of my personal experience in the evangelical culture has led me to understand that belief that God is good is simply expected. It is so often said as we interact with one another, that in my view, the real meaning is very often lost. I say that because it is also from my own experience that nowhere is it more painful to be,than in a situation, perhaps a life and death situation, and have someone come to you and share a trite, flat rendition of "BUT,God is good".

Over the last 7 years as we have been in a life and death struggle with a loved one diagnosed with bulimia nervosa, a life-threatening and often misunderstood eating disorder. Many times throughout this experience someone has literally spoken the "God is good" mantra to me with absolutely no comprehension of the depth of my pain.

My greatest concern is that as we utter this mantra,we bury our real feelings as if the God we claim to know can't handle our angst. This became very real tome as the roots of our loved one's particular struggle was discovered to be her inability to process emotion in a healthy way. She had grown up all of her life hearing the "God is good" mantra expressed no matter what physical or emotional pain she was personally in. Then when severe clinical depression hit her, darkness enveloped her life and as she sought help among her Christian peers and counselors, she was all too often encouraged to stuff her negative feelings even further under the "God is good" banner. It was only when she was led to someone who didn't use the Christian lingo that she found a way, that our family found a way out of the dark.

So, though this is a bit scary to actually put in print, I must do it. Today, God is as real to me as ever and I really don't care if God is good or not at much as I care that God is real, present and active in my life.

Thank you for reading this -
Jane