Part 8 (1/2)
Moses asked G.o.d to show him His glory.
Moses said, ”I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, ”I Myself will make all My goodness pa.s.s before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you...” But He said, ”You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the LORD said, ”Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is pa.s.sing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have pa.s.sed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:18-23).
In essence, G.o.d said that when He pa.s.sed by, He would let Moses see His exhaust fumes because if He allowed Moses to look directly at Him and His glory, Moses would not be able to live. It might be similar to being exposed to a nuclear reaction-Moses would disintegrate from the weight of what he experienced. This is why when you and I go to heaven, we will receive new, glorified bodies. These new bodies will be able to receive and experience G.o.d's glory in its fullness.
Moses was allowed to see just a sliver of G.o.d's glory on earth because a sliver was all he could handle. G.o.d's glory is powerful. Something so powerful, important, and weighty should be taken seriously. So when G.o.d says we have been created for His glory, He gives us an awesome a.s.signment. We have an incredible privilege-G.o.d allows us, and in fact intentionally chooses us, to reflect His splendorous glory. Your purpose is to be a physical, visible, historical reflection of what will one day consume and embrace us in eternity. We are to touch heaven by radiating G.o.d's glory on earth.
Glorifying G.o.d Through Sacrifice We best glorify G.o.d by doing what He tells us to do and not simply what we want to do. Jesus says, ”I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4). Glorifying G.o.d and fulfilling your destiny are directly connected.
Last year, G.o.d gave me the job of serving the Dallas Cowboys as their chaplain, and I gave Him glory by doing the work He gave me to do. But doing that work didn't cost me anything personally. In fact, I was more than happy to fulfill the requirements of that task. I loved that a.s.signment. The tricky part is giving G.o.d glory by doing what He has asked you to do when it costs you something, such as your freedom, your personal wants, your comfort, or your pride.
As Jesus was preparing to be taken to the cross and crucified for the sins of all mankind, He said something very revealing about how we are to glorify G.o.d. ”Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name” (John 12:27-28).
Jesus didn't mince words. He didn't sugarcoat His feelings. Jesus's soul was troubled. He wanted to ask G.o.d to save Him from this hour. Jesus hoped G.o.d would not make Him go through with what was about to happen. But then He turned it all around because what He was about to experience was directly tied to His purpose and G.o.d's glory. ”Go ahead, G.o.d,” Jesus said. ”This is why I came. Glorify Your name.”
Even though Jesus wanted a way out, He finished the work He had been sent to do because He knew that in His purpose-in fulfilling the work G.o.d had intended for Him, however painful it was-He was bringing glory to G.o.d.
Are you in a relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d for His sake or for your own sake? G.o.d will reveal your motives by allowing a day of trouble. You won't want things to be going the way they are going. You won't want things to be working out the way they are working out. You won't want to go down that path. You won't want to take that road. You won't want to go there, do that, or experience that situation. You'll know the steps ahead of you will be painful-but you'll take them anyway because that is what He asked you to do.
All of us could glorify G.o.d if He were to send us a million dollars, give us new houses, solve all our problems, or make our work situations turn around in our favor. Anyone can do that. But G.o.d wants to know if we will glorify Him when we have to pick up our crosses and follow Him. What happens when we don't get the promotion? What happens when we get overlooked on the job? What happens when our spouses walk out on us? Our children rebel? The doctor doesn't give us the report that we wanted to hear? What happens then? Do we still do what He has asked us to do? Do we still hang in there? Do we still walk down the path He has shown us? Or do we throw in the towel, quit, and leave?
G.o.d wants to know-are you in this for you, or are you in this for Him?
The tragedy today is that most of us are usually in it for ourselves. When the pain and disappointments of life show up, we want to fix them, change them, or leave them altogether. All the while our faith and praise quickly diminish into a mere whisper.
G.o.d didn't save you just to take you to heaven. G.o.d saved you so that earth would have a living, breathing HD reflection of His glory. That is why Job said, ”Though He slay me, I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15). Job didn't back down from stating his case, arguing his points, and making his complaints to G.o.d. But he also stood corrected at the end of the day. He was willing to be corrected because of what he affirmed: ”I will hope in Him.” In essence, he was venting to G.o.d. But when all was said and done, Job said, ”I lay my hand on my mouth” (Job 40:4). I trust You.
Habakkuk also suffered. After enduring enemy oppression, despair, and scarcity, he summed up his experience by saying this: Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the G.o.d of my salvation.
The Lord G.o.d is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds' feet, And makes me walk on my high places (Habakkuk 3:17-19).
When you s.h.i.+ft the way you view your purpose and G.o.d's glory-just as Job and Habakkuk did-you gain G.o.d's undivided attention. G.o.d restored more to Job than he had lost. Habakkuk walked on high places above the situation and the others around him. Jesus rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of G.o.d as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Glory to Glory Once you view all of your life-the good, the bad, and the bitter-through the grid of G.o.d's glory, everything changes.
And look what happens next. ”We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Make this decision to unveil your face, heart, and spirit-your soul-before G.o.d. Remove the layers of self-preservation, protection, and pride, and authentically trust Him. When you do, you will be transformed. His glory will rest on you and thus become your glory.
You will be like Moses, who was transparent in G.o.d's presence for an extended period of time. When he returned to his people, ”the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone” (Exodus 34:35). G.o.d's glory was all over Moses. The longer Moses stayed away from G.o.d, the more G.o.d's glory faded, and Moses's face would no longer s.h.i.+ne as brightly until he returned to G.o.d's presence.
Yet 2 Corinthians reminds us that we are not like Moses because we are living under the new covenant, and G.o.d's glory now transforms us continually from the inside. G.o.d's glory is to radiate inside of you so much that you will have a glow that does not depend on your circ.u.mstances. Your glow won't have anything to do with your situation. Instead, you will glow because you are embracing G.o.d's purpose in your life-to glorify Him by trusting Him even in situations you cannot understand and do not want to experience.
If you want to know your destiny, live for G.o.d's glory even in the daily and mundane things of life (1 Corinthians 10:31). When you live for His glory, He'll reveal your destiny. But He's not going to show it to you if you don't first respect His presence. Once you get that straight, you don't need to knock yourself out trying to track down your destiny. You don't need to go to the ends of the earth to locate your destiny.
Once you determine that you will live for G.o.d's glory regardless of what you want to do, feel, or experience, G.o.d will bring your destiny to you. As we read earlier, ”Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Jesus didn't say, ”Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness [in other words, His glory], and then go and seek all the other things too.” No, when you seek G.o.d's kingdom and glory first, all the other things will be added to you. They come to you. G.o.d takes responsibility to provide all you need to do whatever He wants you to do. You won't have to break your neck to get it. You won't have to wear yourself out trying to accomplish it. G.o.d will cause it to flow naturally to you because, after all, He will receive the glory. G.o.d doesn't mind picking up the tab to bring your destiny your way when He knows that you will do it no matter what and that He will get the glory.
Before you take another step toward discovering your destiny, you have a decision to make. For whose glory will you live? Will you live for your name, your reputation, your recognition, your exaltation, and your 15 minutes of fame? If that's what you want, that's all you'll get, and trust me, 15 minutes of fame is still only 15 minutes in light of eternity. It's not going to last that long.
Or are you going to live for the eternal King, who rules over an eternal kingdom? His destiny for you includes you and benefits you but has been designed to advance His kingdom on earth, bless others, and reflect His greatest glory.
Reflected Glory Many a man has walked a beautiful lady outside on a full moonlit night and pointed up at the moon. There's something romantic about a full moon against the backdrop of a darkened sky. But if you will recall from your science cla.s.ses, the moon has no light of its own. The moon is dark 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When we look at the moon, we see the brilliant reflection of the even more brilliant sun. The radiant moon does no work on its own. Rather, it reflects the work of the sun in all its glory because the moon produces no light.
The problem is that sometimes something gets in the way. Actually, the earth gets in the way. Whenever only part of the moon is lit up, Earth is blocking the sun's glory. The sun is still there to light the whole moon, but because of the way Earth and moon rotate, Earth sometimes blocks the sun's light from reflecting off of the full moon.
Friend, what are you allowing to get in the way of G.o.d's glory and reduce your ability to be a full reflection of Him? What is standing between you and G.o.d's desire to have you reflect full hope, full direction, full power, and full peace? Only after you realize that you are created to reflect G.o.d and that your life is about Him will you be able to fully live out your destiny. If you don't, you will join the countless millions who simply go through life existing day by day and who will one day stand before their Creator in heaven, only to hear Him say, ”I had so much that I wanted to accomplish through you. I had so much that I wanted to do through you. I had so much that I wanted to show you, but I never could get you to focus your full and undivided attention on My glory. You wanted your own.”
Friend, it's really all about His glory.
And in case you didn't hear me (it's so important I'm going to say it again), your destiny is about His glory.
15.
Future I have talked with many people over the years who seem to be living with a sense of hopelessness. Questions like these bounce around in their heads: Am I ever going to get where I'm supposed to be? Am I ever going to do what I'm supposed to do? Is life ever going to work for me? These people have lost a sense of hope. They have lost a sense of destiny.
Friend, if that sounds like you today, I have a good verse for you to encourage you on your journey. It's located in a difficult chapter of a difficult book-a ray of hope surrounded by clouds of discouragement. Perhaps that is how you feel today. You may feel as if you endure bad day after bad day, bad year after bad year, or even bad decade after bad decade. Yet even though this verse is surrounded by despair and hopelessness, it offers just the opposite. It offers hope, meaning, and purpose. You too can discover your destiny even in the midst of despair.
”'I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope'” (Jeremiah 29:11). That is G.o.d's promise just for you.
Many of us make New Year's resolutions, and most of us break them. They may include being a better person, eating better, working out at the gym, memorizing Scripture, or watching less football. A resolution is simply a firm decision to do something. It's a decree or a promise. Every January, our resolutions resound with determination and the hope of new beginnings. By May, their nagging presence reminds us that we didn't quite reach our goals. By December, most of us have forgotten what we resolved to do.
You may or may not join with the millions who make New Year's resolutions, but I want to remind you that there is One who has kept every resolution He has ever made. He keeps His promises. He keeps His Word.
And even if we are not able to stick it out in the gym, stay away from the chocolate, or bite our tongue rather than beat others with it-He is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all we could ever imagine. And He has resolved that your life is going to be a great life. It is a life filled with ”a future and a hope.” The surest way to live out your destiny is to fix your eyes on the unchanging faithfulness of the One who has promised that goodness and loving-kindness will follow you when you follow Him (Psalm 23:6).
Your life may hold some surprises, but I know who holds your life. And He says that you are to be of good cheer because He has already overcome it all. If He has overcome it, then you, His child and as His heir, have overcome it too.
I understand how easily we can get caught up in the circ.u.mstances of life. Things can seem overwhelming. I understand how easily we can lose hope. But if you will keep your eyes fixed on the Lord and not on your circ.u.mstances, you will see that He who began a good work in you will also complete it.
People lose hope when they can't see a future. Yesterday was bleak, today is still bleak, and tomorrow doesn't look any better. The weather report of their lives says, ”No suns.h.i.+ne.” Nothing out there has their number on it or seems related to their calling or destiny.
If you are one of those people, memorize and meditate on Jeremiah 29:11. This great verse from a difficult chapter in an equally difficult book is for all those who feel they are having bad lives. G.o.d brought a promise of hope to the Israelites while they were still in captivity in Babylon. Verse 4 tells us, ”Thus says the LORD of hosts, the G.o.d of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon...” The Israelites had been sent into exile. They would be under G.o.d's judgment and disciplining hand for 70 years. To make it worse, the place they had been sent to was as pagan as could be. Babylon was not where the believers hung out. It was an evil and idolatrous place, a terrible place to live-particularly if you were an Israelite. These people were in a desperate situation full of negative circ.u.mstances, pagan influences, and divine judgment. Yet in the midst of this discouragement, hopelessness, and pain, G.o.d shows up and says, ”I know the plans I have for you.”
Why is that so important? Because when G.o.d says He has a plan, you know the story isn't over. In fact, you are still here, so your life isn't over. Your destiny is not over. Your purpose is not over. Your calling is not over. You are still living, breathing, and functioning on planet earth, so G.o.d still has a plan just for you.
You may be saying, ”But, Tony, you don't know about my past. It's messed up-G.o.d would never use me.” Well, Israel had a past too. Yet G.o.d still had a plan for them that included a future and a hope. Remember, some of your greatest lessons about faith and humility will be learned in the dark. These are the times when you feel so hopeless that you don't know what in the world G.o.d is doing, how He is doing it, and why He is taking so long. G.o.d may be silent, but He is not still. When you feel furthest from Him, He is the closest He'll ever be. One of the key components of a life of destiny is trust in the Lord in times that don't make sense.
I know your life may look dark, the path may seem unclear, and you might have no idea where G.o.d is taking you. In fact, it may be pitch black outside. But if you are in one of those times right now, hold on because when G.o.d moves, you will move. Maybe He's stopped at the corner of your life right now because there is too much traffic coming. I don't know the reason why He has allowed you to be stuck, delayed, or seemingly hindered from living out your destiny right at this very moment. But if He has, I do know this-He has a plan for you, and it is a good plan to give you both a future and a hope.
In the Meantime G.o.d tells you what to do while you are waiting to realize your destiny, just as He told the Israelites. Earlier in the chapter, He instructed them, ”Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce... Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare” (Jeremiah 29:5,7).