We all want something good to happen to us. We go to the mailbox with anticipation of good news or a good benefit. We labor in our jobs longing for good outcome and a good report. There is in all of us a desire to be blessed.

We live in a fallen world. Value systems are upside down. Many times the best efforts go unnoticed and unrewarded. We will rarely find blessing if we only look to the world system or wait for people to recognize us. Only Almighty God is good and only He can give good things.

The writer of Psalms, in Psalm 112, verse 5, declares, “Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.” We know of greed, selfishness, and looking out for ourselves. Generosity, lending freely, and doing the right thing seem to be the way of the weak.

We can live by one of two systems. We can immerse ourselves in the way of the world, focus on ourselves, and by hard work and good management possibly get ahead of the game. The problem with this is, whatever you did to get what you have is what you have to do to keep it.

The other way is to live God’s way. Realize He is the source of everything. He is the One who gives us power to gain wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18). Recognize also that everything we have comes from God (1 Chronicles 29:14). The world system says, “Get and hold on”; God’s system says, “Get to give.”

Everything in us screams, “Follow the world system; do what you can figure out on your own!” God’s way requires faith.

Generosity is costly. Lending freely will bring us to the end of our resources quickly. Conducting your affairs with justice often means that you are choosing against your own best interests. Faith in God requires that we live our lives in such a way that if God does not come through, we are ruined. That is faith, and faith always requires us to make the first move.

A life of faith is revolutionary; that is, it is against the system, but God is more than able to prove Himself strong in behalf of those who seek to honor Him by their lifestyle (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Are you looking for good things, really good things? Do it God’s way. What He does is rock solid and there is no fear of loss.

Take this concept one more step. Psalms, chapter 33, verse 12, states, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.” Nations can operate in God’s realm; that is, nations can look to God as the Sovereign Ruler of the universe and conduct their affairs with generosity and justice. When any people turn their back on God and His ways, God will allow any and all kinds of tyrannical ills to come against them.

Where does it begin? It begins with God’s people-the ones who know God. We cannot expect the godless to be godly. The ultimate step of faith is to live God’s way when everything around us is going the other direction.

God is alive and ruling today!

The Rev. Dan Puckett is a minister with Life Action Ministries.