Glorify God

Yesterday our pastor led us in a time of special prayer for those who have been suffering with illness in our church family. It was a special, but difficult, time. Many are hurting. Some possibly facing death, if God does not intervene.

As I sat there, my first thought was, "Am I ready?" If I found out today that I had a terminal form of cancer and had a short time to live, could I be at peace? I think, though it would certainly be a very emotional and difficult time, I could be. My greatest concern, of course, would be for my family.

My second thought was on how God gets glory in our lives. You know that this is a subject I spend a lot of time complaining about to God. I hope that, in his grace, he sees me in the same light as King David as David spends a lot of time complaining to God in the Psalms when things are not going well.

If God is truly our GOD, then our main priority is to gain glory for him. Our needs, and most certainly, wants, take a distant place in value to that one goal. I am certain that most of us go about our lives with bringing glory to God as a major part of what we do. However, we are hoping for the "both/and" version; God gets glory AND we live a comfortable, enjoyable, successful life. I am sure that this happens for some; but, I am also sure God doesn't always go with the "both/and" plan.

Hence, he doesn't always save. He doesn't always heal. He allows his people to suffer; to be martyred; to be abused. Truly horrible things happen to his people, much of which we are blind to here in the United States. We must trust that in all of this, God brings himself glory and will ultimately fulfill his promise to bring about the best for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Such is the fragility of our faith.

Why would we continue to trust? This morning in chapel one of our missionary kids, Ian Smith, shared the answer. We trust because we, and others in the Family, have experienced God's faithfulness, kindness, mercy and love. We hold those things in our collective stories as monuments to God's active work in and through us.

I had a part in writing a song committing ourselves to God's glory above all else. You can hear it at
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B974RmAHjuPSTm8xNmktUFZLcms

Honestly, this is a hope for every day...that I would have the attitude shared in these lyrics. But, you know, though hope springs eternal most days I find myself grasping for it. Lord, have mercy on me!