Perhaps the thought has crossed your mind, maybe when you came across new claims bringing God’s goodness into question—the fear that God is different from what you thought he was like.
In C.S. Lewis’s The Last Battle, the noble King Tirian experiences this fear. Reports of murders of Dryads and the enslavement of innocent Narnians at the command of Aslan himself reach Tirian—terrible things that go utterly against what Tirian and the Narnians know of Aslan from past accounts. “Would it not be better to be dead than to have this horrible fear that Aslan has come and is not like the Aslan we have believed in and longed for? It is as if the sun rose one day and were a black sun,” Tirian laments.
But because of what he’s learned of the true Aslan, Tirian remains skeptical of these reports, and he soon learns his skepticism is justified. The atrocities are being committed by a false Aslan—a selfish, cruel imposter.
Similarly, it’s important that we have an accurate understanding of our God, that we know what kind of God he is. And we know this to be true: We serve a good God. We see this when we turn to the pages of Scripture. Account after account reveals God’s character. He’s a God of both grace and truth, compassion and justice.
We see this when Adam and Eve hide from God after tasting the forbidden fruit and God calls out to them and clothes them.
We see this when Hagar is mistreated and runs away but God sees her and comforts her.
We see this when Joseph is betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery yet God makes him a great and wise leader in Egypt who saves multitudes—including his brothers.
We see this when a scarlet cord hangs outside the window of the home of a Canaanite prostitute who accepts personal risk to save the lives of two Hebrew spies—and her family’s lives are spared.
We see this numerous times when God raises up judges and repeatedly shows compassion on his people after they’ve rebelled against him again and again.
We see this when God redeems faithful Ruth after she loses her husband and chooses to follow Naomi to Israel.
We see this when God saves the Jews from impending elimination through the bravery of Queen Esther.
Ultimately, we see this in the sacrifice Jesus makes for us—the sacrifice of his very life. Our sins are nailed to the cross, and Jesus pays the penalty for them. He pays the penalty for us. That is the price for our moral failure, for our rebellion against God. Yet God willingly pays it. This single event illustrates the perfect upholding of love and justice.
King Tirian tries to challenge the truth of the claims he’s hearing about Aslan by asking how “the terrible god Tash who fed on the blood of his people could possibly be the same as the good Lion by whose blood all Narnia was saved.” How could our God, who shed his blood for us, not be good?
Our God is one who says, “Take heart!” You will face trials in this life, but he is always with you and will never forsake you (John 16:33; Heb. 13:5). Take heart, dear reader, and remember the good things God has done (Ps. 77:11–12). Look to the pages of Scripture, and rest assured—our God is a good God.