Pamela Polanco brings us our devotional post this week – head over to the contributor’s page to learn more about her.

My husband and I recently visited a church to share a ministry report where we were invited out to eat at Arby’s after visitation time with staff and teenagers. Because I had never eaten there before, my initial thoughts were to go for something simple, so I ordered some chicken. 

After I ate, several people approached me, and in my attempt to create conversation, I repeatedly mentioned how good Arby’s chicken was. After a while, my husband chuckled, “You know, I have never heard someone praise Arby’s chicken since it is well known for its brisket.”  

Immediately, I realized that I had missed out on a great opportunity. Oh, why did I order chicken? I mean, chicken is my least favorite meat, and I happen to love brisket! I had to admit that I robbed myself of the opportunity of trying out the best dish. 

Ironically, we are like that in our relationship with God very often.  The scriptures invite us “to taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him” (Psalm 34:8). If we think of it, we see the Lord’s goodness all around us, for it is gloriously displayed in nature.

It is crafted upon the radiant sky, embedded in each of the stations, and even demonstrated in the timed pattern of the falling rain —it is etched in every detail of His creation. His goodness surrounds us all daily. 

All of us can, to some degree, acknowledge we have witnessed His goodness. However, the psalmist here is imperatively inviting us to taste and see His goodness firsthand.  Sometimes we miss out on God’s best because we are not actively feasting on His presence.

We rob ourselves of the opportunity of seeing how good He is to us personally.  Oh, how I’ve been convicted often by this invitation to taste and see His goodness for myself.  It’s not that we don’t desire to take the invitation; it’s often that life’s busyness and frequent amusements fog our view. 

That’s why, friend, I would like to remind you of the invitation to taste and see. Do not trust that God is good because someone else told you so; verify it for yourself. Meet Him, fall in love with Him —for He has, quite literally, fallen in love with you already. 

The psalmist said that blessed are those who trust Him, but we can only acknowledge that we are blessed after enjoying and witnessing His goodness in our life.  

Don’t rob yourself of the opportunity of experiencing God’s goodness: taste and see —continually— for it is a never-ending stream of blessings.