“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey”. Such are the words from the nineteenth century hymn which are still so true today. If there is one thing we know as Christians, it is that we serve God and we answer to Him, not the other way around. Therefore, we submit to Him, He is the potter, and we are the clay (Jeremiah 18). As such, our posture must be what the hymn says “trust and obey” for without that we cannot move forward. This week I was reminded of how precious life is and how quickly things can change. One moment you are smiling and the next you’re crying; one moment you’re rich and the next you’re bankrupt; one moment you’re happy and the next you are sad. In many of these situations, the change in your circumstances may or may not be a result of your action nevertheless, it certainly has an effect on you. With the constant change we experience as human beings on this earth, whether it be societal, natural disasters or personal, we need to lean on the One who is never changing, always constant in His ways (Malachi 3:6); the One who never sleeps and never slumbers (Psalm 121:4); the One who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. In today’s post, I’d like to remind you to keep your focus on Christ, the never changing one because he is trustworthy.
Proverbs tells us to trust in the Lord will all our hearts and not to lean on our own understanding but instead to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways and as we do that, the Lord will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). The idea is straightforward, we should not trust in ourselves. At this point our prideful mind thinks “what is wrong with myself?” or “I am smart, I can trust my choices. Look at what I have accomplished!” but Proverbs cautions against it and rightly so since “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14:12). Such passages remind us that we are not that bright as we may think. They also remind us that we do not have a bird’s eye view to a situation, “we only know in part, and we prophesy in part” (1 Corinthians 13:9). Complete knowledge has not been granted to us, after all we are only the clay, the sheep (John 10), the branches that feed into the true vine (John 15). Unfortunately, our flesh loves to make us feel that we are in control; it loves to deceive us into thinking our accomplishments and our possessions define us; it loves to elevate us, but the word of God tells us to elevate God and to humble ourselves. Indeed, we were created for God’s pleasure. As Isaiah tells us we were called and made by God to glorify Him in heaven (Isaiah 43:7). Peter says something similar about our identity and purpose: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9) We were created to declare the praises of our Maker, our Salvation and we are His special possession which means He can do with us as He pleases. Simply based on those two verses, we have reasons to live, we have reasons to be on this earth. As it turns out, our main purpose is not to make a difference in the world; our main purpose is not to end poverty in the world, nor is it to setup the biggest firm possible that will contribute to the development of a country. Indeed, as wonderful as these purposes are, that is not what we were created to do. No wonder nothing we do in this life seems to satisfy us! No matter how much good we do, no matter how deep the impact we are making or have made is, it is never fully satisfying to us. This is the case simply because we were created for God, for His pleasure, for His delight. His glory is what we were made for, this should be the driving force that makes us get out of bed every day. I suspect when the focus is on Jesus, we will have no difficulty finding our satisfaction in Him. Again, since we cannot do much in and of ourselves, I suggest you lean on Jesus who is the beginning and the end.
What does it really mean to be created for God’s glory? While there might be deeper and more elaborate answers to that question, I would like to take the simple route which is that to be created for God’s glory is to be created to elevate God, to magnify Him. The reason you exist is to display the majesty of God, it is to showcase His character in its fullness, it is to reflect Him in all His ways. As humans, we have been created with the ability to reflect God because we are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). This is a particularity of who we are as a race, no other being can claim or boast that status except us. Which means we are privileged and have an envious status that we must cherish at all times. Therefore, to glorify God means to exalt His goodness, His mercy, His kindness, His faithfulness, His power, His truth, His justice and the list goes on. The more we magnify God, the more we elevate Him with our lives, the more God’s glory shines upon us. This shows itself best in the way we live our lives on this earth among fellow humans. For example, when we do not retort according to the wrongs that were done to us but show mercy, we reflect the nature of God and we glorify Him. When we pray for our enemies, truly asking the Lord for their repentance and even extending forgiveness to them, we glorify God. When we offer the message of the gospel to the lost, pursuing them relentlessly with it, we glorify God. When we proclaim God’s excellencies in a world that celebrates self, we glorify Him. Essentially, when we obey God’s commandments, we glorify Him. You see, what we were made to do is not rocket science, yet we love to make it abstract and unclear when all along it is clear and simple. It might not be our default attitude and we might find it difficult to glorify God in this mortal body, but it certainly is not impossible, and He has given us the grace to do it by His Spirit. Glorifying God is not a task we do relying on ourselves, we do it relying on the Holy Spirit who guides us, convicts us, and reveals the truth of the Father to us. Our walk on this earth is one of steadfastness. It is one of not giving up, it is one that continually looks to the author and finisher of our faith, it is one that looks forward to the reward – the crown of life that will be given to those hold fast until the end (James 1:12). As we do that, we are able to withstand the changes of the world, withstands the hypocrisy, the hatred, the jealousy and the evil works of the flesh in this world. This glorifies God in heaven, bringing His light into the world and clearly sets us apart from the rest of the world. We were made for Him.
So if you do not yet know this great God, let me encourage you to get to know Him through His word, the Bible. Indeed, God wants to know you and have an intimate relationship with you. He sent His one and only Son to die on the cross for you so that you could have a restored relationship with Him, namely life eternal instead of the death you deserved because of your sins (Ephesians 2:1-5). Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, God did not repay us as our sins deserve because Christ was our substitute. He took our sins and gave us His righteousness that is why we have been given a new identity as Paul says to the Corinthians church: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). A life fulfilled is what the Lord is calling you to today. Where else will you run for the stability and fulfilment your soul longs for? I pray you grab a hold of the I AM, He is ready for you, extending His ever loving arms. Run to Him while there is still time. Amen.
A Word Aptly Spoken 