I Know God is good… but is He also kind?

I just completed a Scripture journey that lasted almost four years. As with many Bible studies I’ve done over the years, this one was prompted by a specific need in my life. In the fall of 2022, our family experienced a traumatic loss. My sister and her husband were celebrating 15 years of marriage at an overseas resort. But something wasn’t right. Normally healthy, Michael started feeling poorly a few days before their trip. He figured it was some kind of virus and tried to sleep it off. He tried to venture out some, but just couldn’t shake it. Their celebration was spoiled as he had to stay in their room. And then he got worse.

Concerned, my sister cut the trip short and booked earlier flights back. When they landed in Atlanta, he seemed a bit better. So they booked a hotel to try to make it through the night, hoping to drive home the next morning. That night, he was rushed to the hospital, then transferred to another specialty hospital. Until then, they had no idea that Michael had a rare and aggressive form of cancer. He only lasted three days. He was 38. After saying goodbye for an anniversary trip, his three young children never saw him alive again.

Struggling with God’s Kindness

Those days were an aching blur. Hospital trips, fixing food, caring for children, tough medical decisions. And then death certificates, insurance questions, funeral arrangements, brutal phone calls. It all seemed so surreal. Until the reality of death came crashing down. Like so many who encounter traumatic loss, I naturally responded with questions. I didn’t doubt the core goodness of God. My struggle related to God’s kindness: “Lord, I know you are good, but right now, it just doesn’t seem like you are kind.” An anniversary trip. So quick and yet so agonizing. A young family. Lives derailed. It all just seemed so unnecessary, so cruel, so unkind.

Seeking Evidence of God’s Kindness in Scripture

With questions lingering, I determined to read through the entire Bible, looking for evidence of God’s kindness: unexpected ways in which God intentionally acts for the good of people, expecting nothing in return. Having grown up in church, I knew songs about God’s love and goodness – how his heart his touched with my grief. My head affirmed that Jesus is strong and kind, but in the midst of ongoing pain and lingering questions, I needed to see it for myself in his Word.

God’s Kindness in the Old Testament

So I started in Genesis, recording each passage where God’s kindness peeks out in the Creation account. I slowly worked my way through the Old Testament, climaxing in a glorious prophecy in Malachi 4: the prediction that God would send “Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.”

From beginning to end, I encountered God’s kindness at every turn – both in expected and unexpected places. And along the way, I learned that God’s kindness doesn’t always seem kind in the moment; sometimes it takes a while to blossom. I also learned to look for kindness in the immediate vicinity of judgment. It appears more like a wildflower in a forest than planted flowers in a bed, springing up in unexpected places. My casual, unscholarly search yielded 528 instances of God’s kindness in the Old Testament. And I’m sure I missed many. The sheer volume of those examples sneaked up on me – exactly like it happens in everyday life: if I’m not intentionally on the lookout for them, I can easily miss them.

Over the past few years, God has enhanced my awareness of his kindness in smaller, seemingly insignificant things of life. Like noticing the astonishing variety of birds around our house in the spring. Or picking out spiritual progress in my son. Or seeing God provide for a need that no one else knew about. Small things matter because they show that God really does care about me.

God’s Kindness in the New Testament

God’s kindness appears in more straightforward ways in the New Testament: most dramatically in the form of Jesus Christ. Beginning with the birth of Jesus in the gospels, we are given a front-row seat to the kind acts of God as Jesus interacted with desperate and hurting people who could not repay him in any way. From a wretched man possessed by demons to a widowed mother to a sick woman who had exhausted all her resources – the Son of God was the kindest person to ever walk this earth. I admit to clustering these acts of kindness in the gospels into categories. Listing them out individually would most likely have doubled my New Testament list.

Even so, in spite of the comparative brevity of the New Testament compared to the Old Testament, I noted almost 300 examples of specific acts of kindness from God to man. Reminders of God’s kindness in the New Testament are often stated plainly – not inferred. Especially in the epistles as the apostles trumpet the kindness of God to man revealed through the glorious implications of the gospel. This drove home another truth about the kindness of God that I needed to learn: when experience causes me to question God’s attributes, sometimes I just need to see it plainly stated.

Scrolling the Catalogue of Kindness

Getting kindly smacked in the face by Paul can be painful, but needed: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). Yes, Lord. This is truth, even when my circumstances seem to contradict it. The weight of Scripture bears out God’s kindness. And when I question that reality, scrolling through my lengthy “catalogue of kindness” can help. God is good. And God is also kind.

If you would like to ponder more from God’s Word on the topic of suffering, consider other articles through our blog’s word search “suffering” HERE.

Photo by Pop & Zebra on Unsplash