It is a popular false belief if we attach God or Jesus’ name to something we are free to do what we want and He is obligated to bless it for His glory, but it actually glorifies nothing but you. If that were true no Christian would ever struggle in this life. I think most of us can testify to the opposite as we each face hills and valleys.
I recently went on a walk with lots of doubt and fears in my mind on a track behind a church. As I began to walk down a hill, I looked up and noticed a strange phnomenon; the moon was still visible in the morning sky. I thought to myself, God only You can do such wonderful things, put both the sun and the moon in the sky at the same time; surely you can save Your people from this broken world.“
In my heart I sensed God say, “God things are not man things.” God has always brought glory to Himself through His works and creation. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Beauty is its own reason for existence.”
Scripture tells us over and over that the ancient world saw God in nature and it glorified its Creator (Genesis 1:1, Psalm 19:1, 66:4, Isaiah 40:26,) in every moment. Creation glorifies God and never says a word to bring Him glory! All glory is due to God, because it comes from Him, not us—His glory is all that matters.
GLORY?
Like most words glory has more than one meaning.
• High renown or honor won by notable achievements.
• Magnificence or great beauty.
• Take great pride or pleasure in.
And there is the problem, it’s a holy collision. We think that if we attach God’s great name to our works, it glorifies God and He’ll take it to another level. But if God has truly done something, it’s obvious.
We are only taking pride in our achievements. It is sad to think God’s people are so shallow in our thinking. We think God is glorified through our greatness and our works, our successes.
But in the Bible, the opposite is true. When Israel was fleeing Egypt and Pharaoh. God told Moses and His children to be still so that He could rescue them and in the end glorify Himself (Exodus 14:13.)
Later God told Moses to speak to a rock and He would make water come out, instead Moses struck the rock with his staff, robbing God of the glory (Numbers 20:8-11.) Moses, pride Gotcha!
Even in the New Testament, we see God isn’t glorified in our strength or deeds— but, in our brokenness and weakness. On one occasion the disciples asked Jesus why a man was born blind and Jesus replied that God may be glorified (John 9:2–3.)
Later the apostle Paul explained God’s power is shown in our weakness, not our strength (2 Corinthians 12:9.) When God is doing really something, we don’t have to attach His name to it. People know when only God can do something.
LET GO AND LET GOD?
If you’ve been in the Christian community you’ve heard the saying, “Let go and let God.” With our mouths we surrender, but with our actions we try to succeed in our own strength. Which just glorifies us, sinful man—that’s not the cause of Christ.
God is glorified by what He does, not man. God gets the final word or gets nothing at all. When one of Jesus’ friends died, Jesus said God would be glorified (John 11:1-44.)
On another walk, this time home from the gym, I was exhausted; I still had a lot of writing to do. I had so much I wanted to do for God. But, upon arriving home all I felt like doing was eating and reading. But, what can I do?
As I curled up in my popasan chair to read by a window, I read the following words by the late Bob Briner, “God created us for beauty—to be beautiful and to enjoy beauty. To the degree that we passionately engage ourselves in this love affair with the Lover of our souls, we will not be able to hide beauty if we try.”
When Jesus called His first disciples, they weren’t out seeking greatness, still God made them who they were made to be. He found them where they were, ordinary uneducated men. But God used them to do great things despite their faults and brokenness, that’s glory defined.
