God’s glory

What’s Next

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“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike ‘What’s next, Papa?’ God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!” (Romans 8:15-17, The Message).

It was a very unassuming moment. There I was, standing in line for hot chocolate during the After Hours celebration of the last Kairos of 2016, uttering a small prayer.

“God, I’m ready for whatever’s next from You.”

It’s a loose paraphrase of the prayer Jesus prayed in the garden in the hours leading up to the awaiting agony of the cruxifixction. His words were, “Your will be done.”

One of the scariest moments is when you relinquish control. One of the most freeing moments is when you finally realize that you were never in control to begin with. It was and has always been God on the throne of the universe, working all things together for your good.

One of the biggest fears that many of us have isn’t that God’s not able to accomplish His plans in and for us. We’re just afraid of how painful those plans might be. And yes, I completely stole that from C. S. Lewis, though he probably said it better.

The truth as I am learning it is that my joy and God’s glory aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, my joy is greatest when God is most glorified in the world– and in my own life.

So God, whatever you have for me, whenever you have it for me, wherever you have it for me, I’m ready. I know more now than ever that the safest and best place to be is smack dab in the middle of Your will.

Amen.

 

DIY Christianity

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diy

I am a fan of Do It Yourself. I’m not that handy myself, but I admire those people who are. I just don’t personally think it’s such a good fit when it comes to faith.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for a better marriage, better job, better parents, and better health. But that’s not all there is.

At the heart of Christianity isn’t about a better me, but a brand new me. That’s borrowed from a friend of mine who said it better than I just did.

At the heart of Christianity is another five-step program or 12 steps to get a better life. What Jesus calls me to isn’t humanly possible. The faith he calls me to requires a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees. It means laying down my rights and ultimately, my life. It means being perfect as God is perfect.

I believe that Christianity isn’t something I do, but something that’s done in me. The big two-dollar words for that process are sanctification and transformation. It’s what Jesus does in me.

I’m not saying I sit back and do nothing. I bring to the table a willing spirit, a cultivated heart, and an engaged mind. I bring sacrifice and surrender. I bring me.

Until I see that my faith is bigger than me and my well-being, I’m not seeing the big picture, which is God’s glory. The endgame of my faith is God receiving as much glory as possible. Fortunately for me, his glory equals my greatest good. It’s a win-win.

If someone comes up to me claiming to have every aspect of faith and belief figured out, I have to wonder. Even though I may sometimes act like I’ve got my Christianity neatly packaged into tidy little compartments, I really don’t. I’m still figuring it all out.

That’s why we have the Church. It’s a place where we figure it out together. In the end, we can’t live the faith alone, which is why we need each other. We can’t live out the faith out of our own strength, which is why we still need Jesus.

Hopefully, this made as much sense to you as it did in my head when I was typing this all out.

Or, to put it this way, “Did you get all that?”

Prayer and the Glory of God

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I got convicted by something I heard today.

How many times do I pray with my wishlist of things I need (or sometimes just really want) without a thought at all for glorifying God? How many times is my prayer all about me with little thought for who I’m praying to?

At its heart, prayer isn’t about me getting things from God, although I tend to forget that. Prayer is about getting to know the heart of God and coming to see things from his perspective.

It’s one thing to pray for healing for a loved one and quite another to pray for God to be glorified in that situation. Not that the two are mutually exclusive, but praying for healing has to be about more than one person getting well. It has to be about people seeing God’s healing power and glorifying him.

Even if God doesn’t choose to heal in that situation, the key is still about God getting glory. After all, the ultimate healing can only come in heaven.

Oswald Chambers once said that prayer doesn’t change things. Prayer changes me and I change things. I think that applies when it comes to your perspective. God doesn’t so much change your environment as much as he changes your outlook on it. You’re better able to see God at work in your life.

I think I’ll start praying for God to be glorified in my life more. Regardless of whether or not I get the things I ask for. After all, God knows what I need more than I do. And what brings him greatest glory is what brings me my greatest good.

According to Rick Warren, it’s not about me. It has been, is, and will always be about God. That goes especially for prayer.