Give Me a Sign of Your Goodness

Show me a sign of your goodness
(Psalm 86:17 CEB)

I have been walking through what feels like a spiritual “flat” valley – reading my Bible, praying, but nothing was happening. Day after day dragged on in monotonous routine. Then I landed on this Scripture in Psalms. What a great idea! I would pray before I went to bed that God would give me a sign of His goodness in the morning.

And He did – but as is often the way with God, not in the manner I expected. I did not receive a startling message from heaven; I did not suddenly have a “special” feeling. Instead, He flooded me with all the signs of His goodness I receive every single day and which I take for granted.

I woke up and two adorable dogs pounced on me, excited I was alive and ready to play with them. I walked into my kitchen and was able to make a cup of hot coffee because I am blessed with power in my home (unlike so many in the world). I had a hot shower (available warm water literally on tap). I opened my kitchen cabinet and took out food for breakfast. I walked outside and saw a maple tree adorned in its spectacular fall colors. A squirrel hopped by, closely followed by the neighbor’s cat, who has high hopes of one day catching one (he will probably faint if that ever happens). Birds sang, a chipmunk was busy stuffing its cheeks with peanuts in my front garden. A neighbor walked by, smiled, and greeted me. I logged onto my computer, blessed with a job that pays me a good salary so I can live comfortably. And the list went on and on throughout the day.

A sign of His goodness?! He showered me with a flood of reminders of His goodness.

Of course, the final note in this has to be the admission I took the scripture out of context – always read the full psalm before running off with a great idea!.