God Will Not Share His Glory

 

Isaiah 42:8 (GW) I am the Lord; that is my name. I will not give my glory to anyone else or the praise I deserve to idols.

2 Thessalonians 2:14 (NIV) He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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AS BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS, we naturally are eager to serve the Lord. We take spiritual gifts assessment tests, we sign up for volunteer activities, and we even take our turn at heading up a committee or program. We can become so involved in our church service that, if we’re not careful, each “I do” will add a notch on our Service Belt and a swag to our step.

In today’s Bible text, the Lord is making a point very clear to us: The glory  goes to Him, not to us; but if we obey Him, we can share in His glory.

It’s very easy to get caught up in the “me” part of “What Does God Want Me to Do” and less on the “God” part of that same question.

Even as we mature in our years on  earth and in our walk with Christ, we are still liable to wonder about what “great” role

 

God wants us to accomplish. Surely, we reason, He has made us for something “great” and it’s just a matter of time before He’ll reveal it to us and to an appreciative world.

Not likely.

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THERE ARE MANY MORE anonymous saints in God’s heaven than there are Pauls or Johns or Peters or Davids or Moses. As well, not many women in the Kingdom will be another Mary or Elizabeth or Miriam or Ruth.

On a personal level, my wife and I have felt that God is calling us to witness for Him, but we don’t know what His plan is.

So, we keep our eyes open.

We know it’s something big. Something remarkable. We just know that.

Look out, world! We’re coming!

Today, in response to prayer, my wife suggested something revolutionary: What if the Lord just wants us to follow Him daily.

Then, IF there is to be some “grandiose event” that He has planned for us, it will happen in God’s time, not ours.

“I’ve stopped trying to figure out what it is He wants us to do and if there’s  some important job He has for us,” she told me. “Instead, I’ve decided to concentrate on just doing what I can each day to follow Him, to see Him,  feel Him, and know Him.”

I put down my cereal spoon and searched her face.

Where was she going?

“That’s not always easy to do but just trying to do that is a plan in itself,” she said. “The rest will unfold in His time.”

She wasn’t finished.

“Maybe that’s His plan, for us just to follow Him each day.”

She got me thinking.

“Maybe that’s His plan, for us just to follow Him each day.”

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WE BEGAN TO REALIZE that we can’t sit on the sidelines waiting for our big moment to arrive. Our big moment is right now, today! This is it. No matter what we’re doing or where we are, we’re called to live out the Gospel for His glory.

“If our daily activities lead us to something big — something we haven’t done before — then that’s wonderful,” she added, “but if it doesn’t, then we’re still doing God’s work daily, and, after all, that’s what He wants from us.”

Looking back, it’s easy to see where we went off course. In our zeal to serve the Master, we allowed ourselves to overlook the real work He has called us to do, which is the ordinary mundane sameness of our daily lives lived out for His glory.

The idea that the Lord has something more in mind for us than the small matters that have been our service for Him in years past did not come from Him. It came from somewhere else.

You see, the devil will use our eagerness to serve God as a way to deceive us.

He’ll tell us we’re meant for so much more than just offering a friendly smile, an encouraging pat on the back, a casserole for a sick neighbor, a ride to the doctor’s, or playing catch with a child.

No, the devil says, don’t get caught up in that minutia. If you do, you won’t be available when the “big stuff” comes your way. You’ll be too busy with the everyday stuff.

Surely, the everyday stuff wasn’t God’s plan, was it?

We’re going to stay with prayer. What does God want me to do? Our prayer — my prayer — needs to focus more on the “God” part of that question and less on the “me” part.

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PRAYER: Our heavenly Father, we give You all of the glory and praise and honor. To You, Lord, belongs our devotion. We are so grateful for Your love. We pray forgiveness for those times when we get in the way of Your whispers to us, when we’re so busy speaking, that we don’t listen. Help us to see that Your plan for us is to obey You, and leave the glory to You. Amen