To The Glory Of His Name
Do you dream of a day when everything is just as it should be? Where there are no more tears. No more crying. No more pain. No more suffering. No more frustrations. No more (fill in the blank).
Throughout my life, I have often pondered what Heaven would be like. To think that there would be no more tears, crying, or pain. What does that even look like? To turn on the news and it would only be positives – the good things going on in the world. To look at a magazine and see relationships being lived out as they should be. To look at billboards that don’t influence our materialistic mindsets. Just imagine.
Every Christian can probably pinpoint a time in their life when they felt God was against them. You know the feeling – when everything seems to be spiraling out of control and the only thing you feel is left are the memories and pain of the events. It often feels like God has turned His back on us and we often are left wondering “where is God?”
Think about the life of Christ. Christ came down from a perfect world, to live among us. To be one of us. To die. Christ’s life was marked by His humble servanthood to the plans God had already set forth (as He spoke of through the prophets in the Old Testament). Through Christ’s servanthood, He role modeled what a life, devoted to God, really looks like. A life marked by suffering and pain.
You see, we often think that because we claim Christ, that our problems and pain will go away because God is a good God. We all do it – or at least think that at some point. Well, God is a good God – He only wants what’s best for us. What we don’t understand is that His goodness can be very different from our thought of what “goodness” is. What if we started to believe that God’s goodness is even MORE so proclaimed through the pain and suffering we may experience here on earth?
Our whole purpose of being here on this earth is to bring Him glory by showing others His glory. If we as Christians only experienced “good” (in our human eyes) then how would that portray the One who suffered? If we are to represent Christ and be His ambassadors, if we never had pain, how would our lives be a representation of Him?
In order to proclaim Christ and His goodness, we need to go through pain and suffering. Everyone’s pain and suffering looks different. In ANY situation, if you are suffering for Christ, the Bible encourages us to KEEP GOING.
1 Peter 4:12-19 says:
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory[b] and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”[c]
Again, if we are to portray a suffering Christ, we too, will have to suffer.
There have been many times throughout my life that I have wondered why God would allow certain events to happen. Many times I lied on my bed in tears, wondering why? The pain was so deep I could feel it in my body. Yet I look at my life and realize it doesn’t even compare. Doesn’t compare to Christ. It doesn’t even compare to what others have to go through on daily basis. What I have learned is that God has used me (and every single Christian) as a way to proclaim His glory. It is what I do with those experiences that matter – do I show the glory of God through them? Am I a reflection of what Christ did for us through my reactions to the circumstances God has allowed in my life? I sure have faltered in this. We will not always understand every situation God brings us through – it’s because He is busy at work, working in and through us, showing Himself to the world. Are we representing Him the best way we can?
This is where being open about what God is doing in your life is vital. It is life-saving. If we choose to keep our mouths shut about the wonders God is doing in our lives, how is Christ’s name supposed to spread? If we continue to turn our backs on opportunities to show His glory, we are closing the door to making His name great.
God desires to use YOU. That is why He created YOU. He has given you life experiences that He has given no one else. Don’t choose to stand by and not say anything. Find the avenue that God wants you to use, to show His glory – to proclaim His greatness.
