Kristen Henderlong

Have you ever experienced a “pinch me” kind of moment in your life?  When you were seeing something so incredible you couldn’t believe it was real?  If you have traveled to any National Parks, maybe you felt this way looking at the Grand Canyon or the monstrous trees of the Redwood Forest…You think,  “I must be dreaming. How could it be so magnificent?  It’s too good to be true.”

If you are a parent, maybe your “pinch me” moment was when your child was born.  The surreal realization that the baby was created from nothing and yet somehow is now here in your arms, breathing and very alive… too good to be true.

Maybe you witnessed an unexplainable phenomenon… a miracle… but it couldn’t be real, you must’ve missed something… it’s too good to be true.

The interesting thing to me is that these things we experience aren’t anything new.  Babies are born every single day— probably every minute of the day.  The National Parks and wonders of the world have existed for centuries and centuries.  Yet we look at these things and cannot make sense of them… we can’t believe they are real.

Coming from someone who grew up very involved in Church and ministry, I thought I had God figured out.  I thought I knew Him well and I thought I understood His grace and power.  As children we rarely see the whole picture.

As I blossomed into an adult—went through challenges, some bad decisions and endured some heartache— my “knowledge” of God seemed to shrink.  Christianity became sort of gray and dim.  The vibrancy and sparkle I had as a child disappeared.  My problems became bigger than my faith.  I didn’t know how to handle that.

Then I came to a place of utter desperation.  My faith wasn’t just a lifestyle choice anymore, it was a lifeline.

When we come to the end of ourselves and God reveals Himself to us in our pain, it’s a remarkable “pinch me” kind of moment because it seems too good to be true.  The gospel is the ‘good news’ and says through Jesus Christ we are loved, chosen, set free, children of God, washed clean, holy, blameless, forgiven, made new, healed, restored, empowered, given authority, accepted… must I go on?

Yet we won’t accept it— that’s too good to be true—we sit in our shame and regret and dwell on “but how could He love me when I am such a mess?  How could he care about anything in my life when I did that thing last night?  I continuously choose sin over relationship with Him?  Why would He give me the time of day? There’s no way.”

Think about the statement, “too good to be true.”  

Who defines what is good and what is true in the first place?  Hmmm… And who’s to say real TRUTH isn’t the most good there could ever be?  Therefore, nothing can logically be too good to be true, because what is true is already the most good… nothing can supersede what is true.  Nothing can be better than what is true.  Truth is truth, period.

Now what is good… what is too good?  Doesn’t God define what is good?

When He created the heavens and the earth He called it good (Gen. 1:1, 31).

And Jesus said, “no one is [essentially] good [by nature] except God” (Matt. 10:18).

This means God sets the standard.  He is good.  Nothing can be more good than He is.

AND look what else Jesus said, “I am the way the TRUTH and the life” (John 14:6 emphasis added).

Jesus— the Son of God— God in human flesh- He is the truth.  God is truth.  God is good and God is true.  

So if the One who is Good and who is Truth tells you anything, it’s not too good to be true.  It’s simply good because it is the most truth you will ever encounter.

Believe and receive it today, my friends.  Let your walls down.  Let Him define you.

It’s NOT too good to be true.

Remember: You are loved.