Jeremy Myers
“It’s all good.”
This small phrase has been running through my head for several days now. It grabbed my attention after an encounter in an overcrowded convenience store, Buc-ee’s, somewhere in southern Georgia.
As we were all attempting to navigate the cramped space, a hurried lady ran into me, pushing me into another gentleman, sending the items we were holding bouncing off other patrons like ping-pong balls. The woman quickly apologized, to which the gentleman and I both responded, “It’s all good.”
What an interesting choice of words for that moment. The poor woman was embarrassed. The items the gentleman and I had gathered to purchase were strewn across the floor amidst the bustling crowd. It was all awkward. It was all inconvenient. It was all uncomfortable. It was not all good.
Actually, the moment was neither good nor bad. What would determine the quality of the moment would be the perspective and posture we participants chose to adopt. The lady humbly apologized for failing to watch where she was going and for running into us. I apologized to the man into whom I had been pushed. And we three together gathered up the items that had been dropped.
The initial moment was neither good nor bad. It simply was. The moment became good because those involved chose to seek out and be good in it.
I believe the quality of our lives is greatly influenced by the ways we choose to see and approach the moments that come our way. The truth is that every moment we draw breath is a gift from God. Whether we seize or squander the opportunity is largely dependent upon the attitudes we adopt on a day-to-day and moment-to-moment basis.
In Matthew 5:45, we read these words from Jesus: “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Our modern minds often take this to mean that God sends good (the sun) and bad (the rain) to all people. But that isn’t what it means. Both sun and rain are good for life to flourish and grow.
Everything God sends has the potential to be good. What hangs in the balance is what we’ll do with what God sends.
“It’s all good.” This is the phrase I want to use as the driver for my attitude and actions this year. I realize there will be both successes and struggles in the days ahead, but it’s all good. Every high will be an opportunity for humility and gratitude and every low will be an opportunity to grow. The question is will I and will we choose to own the moment and make it all God intended it to be for our good and his glory.
The Rev. Jeremy Myers is the lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Seymour. Read his blog at jeremysmyers.com. Send comments to [email protected].