The Glory of God

January 9, 2009 | My Jottings

I have been a Christian since I was twelve years old. I began to learn about Jesus when I was three, and knew at a young age that He loved me and that I needed to look to Him for everything.  Even though my life has taken some pretty ugly twists and turns, I always knew Jesus was the answer. Someday I hope to share my testimony of faith on the blog, but today I want to write about the glory of God.

I have heard people say, “Well, glory to God!”, and “To God be the glory” and other similar phrases all my life, but never really got it. Not that I was really anxious to understand what the glory of God was all about. It sounded kind of hyper-religious and old-school to me. However, I did want to learn to love and obey the God who so loved me that He would give His Son to die for my crimes against Him and others. I wanted to know more about Him. I have yearned to know His Word better. But until a couple of years ago, I didn’t give much thought to “the glory of God”.

I am finding that if our hearts are open to it, God has a way of causing the things that are important to Him to become important to us. And that is what has been happening in my life.

One of my kindest and most faithful friends, Laurel, shared a wonderful definition with me years ago about how she used to explain to her children what it meant to try to “bring glory to God.” She would tell her children that for them to glorify God meant that they needed to make sure what they said and did made Him look good to other people. That their lives would point to Him and cause Him to be praised and thought well of. I loved that definition, and have been on a slow journey ever since, wanting more and more to make my Jesus look good because of anything I do or say.

How I fail at this! But the most wonderful thing is that He has been changing my heart so that I want different things. The older I get, the more I understand how much better life is if I want what He wants. And He is becoming more precious to me, so I long to see others come to see Him for all He is too.

Not that God Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth needs my help polishing His image and protecting His reputation. That’s not what bringing glory to God is all about. He isn’t interested in people glorifying Him because He has a universe-sized ego and needs the constant affirmation. He knows, in ways we can’t begin to fully understand, that when we desire to bring His beautiful character into clearer focus through our puny, blurry lives here on earth, something lasting and powerful happens. He knows what is best for me, and even though there are times my flesh disputes what He allows, I still choose Him. I trust Jesus, and ask Him daily for grace to trust Him more.

I’m reading a book called Won’t Let Go Unless You Bless Me  by Andree Seu, and something she wrote touched my heart…

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation,” quoth Henry David Thoreau. But I know a better quote: Malcolm Muggeridge said the happiest person in the world is the woman who sweeps out her house to the glory of God…

And so I looked up some things in my Bible about this, and these three verses lit up:

Psalm 115:1 – Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. (NIV)

1 Corinthians 10:31 – So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (NIV)

Romans 12:1 – So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.  (The Message)

So today I am going to sweep out my house to the glory of God. I will fold the mounds of laundry for His good pleasure. I will make cole slaw, write out bills, fill a low tire, read my Bible, encourage my husband, endure what little suffering I’m experiencing, put a nice dinner in the crock pot, perhaps hold my tongue, write on this blog, pray for my family and friends, as an offering to Jesus.

No one else will see me, but He will. And He has enough pain and grief to observe with all that’s transpiring in the world today – maybe I’m strange enough to actually believe that a few simple, hidden acts done with my mind and heart set on Him, will actually bring a smile to that great Face.

The enemy of our souls works hard to make us believe the lie that “sweeping out our houses” to the glory of God makes no difference at all. I used to believe that lie.

I don’t anymore.

Praying and hoping and sweeping with you,