Life serves us both pleasant and unpleasant moments. When they are pleasant, we feel good—and bad when they are not. Anaïs Nin is quoted (in The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren) as saying, “We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.” Our subjective perception often prevents us from seeing things as they truly are—including God.

Many times, we define God based on our life experiences. When life’s moments are pleasant, or we believe God will make them so, we see God as good. But when life serves us pain through loss, disappointment, or missed opportunity, we struggle to see God as good. We may even feel justified in our frustration, thinking, "If God were truly good, this wouldn’t have happened."

Aware of our natural subjective view of things, we need to make an effort to tame our minds so that we do not reduce our definition of the Creator of the universe to the level of our experiences that last for only a short while. Otherwise, the immense potential of our relationship with God will remain unrealised.

The Bible tells us that all things—in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—were created by God (Colossians 1:16). Nothing that our senses can perceive exists outside of Him. It is therefore to our disadvantage to define God solely based on individual experiences. Consider this.

If you believe that God created everything, then He existed long before the Earth was created. According to science, the Earth is estimated to be over 4.54 billion years old. That means, at the very least, God has existed for as long as the Earth has because a creator always precedes what is created.

On the other hand, for humans, our life on earth has been set to exist for just a few decades, with the maximum lifespan being about 120 years.

Now, if we were to compare our short lifespans to God’s existence, the period over which you and I will experience God makes up only 0.0000026% of the period He has existed.

So let me ask: can someone who has experienced only 0.0000026% of something be in a position to fully define it? Mathematically or scientifically—no.

But it doesn’t stop there. Think of how many lives God has created and sustained since the beginning of time. Science estimates that over 117 billion people have ever lived on Earth.

That means your life—one life—represents only 0.00000085% of the total lives God has ever touched with His power, through the giving of life and beyond.

So, can any individual representing such a small fraction of humanity’s population claim authority to decide whether God is good or not based solely on personal experience? Again, mathematically or scientifically—no.

Based on scientific computations, what we know of God is negligible. He is far too vast for our finite minds to fully comprehend. The wonders of nature that amaze us only offer a sneak peek into who He is—because He created them all.

I believe that is why, when Moses asked God to define who He was, God simply said, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14). That was not a dodge; it was the best way to define a being that is beyond full human understanding.

Borrowing from Chris Tomlin's song Indescribable, God is “indescribable, uncontainable, and incomparable.” Beyond our human experiences, the sun still rises, the moon still shines, birds still sing, fish still swim, plants still grow, etc., all sustained by His power. 

Whether good or bad, our circumstances do not define who God is. If an experience you consider good has come your way, go to Him with thanksgiving, but do not define Him only based on that, because He who has given shall also take away—at some point. And if He has taken from you or denied you something, do not define Him only based on that because He is still the Giver and continues to bless countless others—even when you are not among them.

Regardless of your circumstances or experiences, I invite you to join me in declaring this truth: God is good, all the time; all the time, God is good.