Nothing Good Falls From Nowhere | A Tree Planted By Water

Everything good comes from God. As we awaken each morning, the light our eyes see when we open them comes from God. He made the sun and sustains the sun. Even in the night, we have moonlight and starlight. Our breathing? From God. Our strength to move our bodies? From God. That first sip of hot fresh coffee in the morning? From God. A hot shower? From Him. Sexual intimacy with a spouse? From Him. And laughter…and Hugs…and Hope…and Peace… and Love; all are from Him.

Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights (James 1:17). What are the things we experience from Him and through Him on this Earth?

Good Things that Come From God

Love (1 John 4)
Life (Acts 17)
Light (1 John 1)
Rest (Matthew 11)
Peace (Philippians 4)
Comfort (2 Corinthians 1)
Hope (Romans 15)
Beauty (Ecclesiastes 3)
Order (1 Corinthians 14)
Satiety (Psalm 145)
Satisfaction (Psalm 90)
Belief (Ephesians 2)
Kindness (Titus 3)
Strength (Philippians 4)
Gentleness (Galatians 5)
Restraint (Galatians 5)
Laughter (Genesis 21)
Joy (Nehemiah 8)
Relief (2 Thessalonians 1)
Justice (Isaiah 30)
Courage (Joshua 1)
Affection (Philippians 1)
Wisdom (Proverbs 2)
Creativity (Exodus 31)

God is infinite in all of those attributes. And that list isn’t even exhaustive. I’m sure there are many more. The full amount of just one of those attributes is uncontainable in all of creation, let alone within us. We cannot fully contain or comprehend the sheer magnitude of each of these attributes in God. Have you ever felt God’s love, kindness, peace, life, etc. and tried to fully “receive” and store them up in your heart? It’s impossible. He’s incomprehensible.

When I’ve tried to store Him up in my heart, it feels like it’s going to burst/explode and I struggle to find human words that can describe, express, or do justice to the fullness of each of these attributes that God possesses. It’s not even that He just possesses them, He is them.

In his Confessions, written during the fourth century A.D., Augustine wrestles with this impossible task, trying to fully express, or “contain,” God, and he says it better than I ever could:

“For the things which you fill by containing them do not sustain and support you (God) as a water-vessel supports the liquid which fills it. Even if they were broken to pieces, you would not flow out of them and away. And when you pour yourself over us, you are not drawn down to us but draw us up to yourself: you are not scattered away, but you gather us together…You are the most hidden from us and yet the most present among us, the most beautiful and yet the most strong, ever enduring and yet we cannot comprehend you…Yet woe betide those who are silent about you! For even those who are most gifted with speech cannot find words to describe you.”

Saint Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

Growing In Gratitude Towards God

One of the things that makes Hell “Hell” is God’s absence. He removes all of His attributes from that place. We just think that these good things “happen” or are “present” here on Earth, but they’re not just present. They’re here because He’s put them here and sustains them here. And even with all of the evil that is in the world, God still restrains much of it.

That’s why we have governments and laws and police and emergency services people, and non-profit organizations, and hospitals, and programs. It’s His common grace that He bestows on both the just and the unjust here on Earth. When you start to attribute every single “good” or “comfort” in your life to God; even the small things we often take for granted, you begin feeling tremendous gratitude toward God.

You’ve probably heard it said: “Earth is as close to Heaven as a non-Christian will get, and as close to Hell as a Christian will ever get.” We experience tastes of both Heaven and Hell in this world, but all the good in this world is from Him. All of it. And it’s His delight to give good gifts to His children (Matt. 7:11).