"Show me Your glory!"

(Image courtesy of http://rest.net.nz.)
Recently, I started a new job as athletic director and teacher at a private school. On top of that, my brother-in-law and I are attempting to start a small tree service business with machinery that was graciously given to us, but does not work yet. I have been working for an existing local tree service business this summer as well, amounting some extra income before the school year starts. I am allowed the opportunity to preach once a month at our local church, lead music there on occasion, and lead a men’s group on Saturday morning. In addition to all of these things, my wife and I are looking to purchase our first house - we are currently living in my parents’ basement, an arrangement we are thankful for, but did not intend to last more than a few weeks; it’s been over a year now. To top it all off, we are expecting our first baby in only a few short weeks. With all these changes taking place, there is also the insurance switches, the bank loans, and other legal documents to complete in a timely manner.
With so many life changes happening so soon and so close together, I find it hard not to get frustrated, tired, burned out, stressed, worried, fearful, etc. I have been slowly getting more and more tired with each passing day, increasing my irritability and moodiness. I am fearful of the future: how are we going to pay for this? Are we going to be able to get this done in time? What if this happens? What if that happens? This fear stems from our human nature, as we all know that our time is short on this earth and that nothing is guaranteed in this life. We have always been in desperate need of a Savior.

Last night I broke. I cussed myself out in the mirror because the stresses were amounting to a level too high for me to conquer and I could feel myself caving in weakness under them. I was able to control myself enough to not punch a hole in the wall (which was good). As I stepped in the shower to wash the dirt and sawdust from my body, I clasped my hands over my head and shut my eyes, and cried out to God in bitterness and anger: “God, I need You. Please show me Your glory!”
“What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:4).
After my shower, I went back into the bedroom and cried. God, indeed, was showing me His glory. Slowly, this question came to mind: “Why would God send His one and only Son to die for me? How could God do such a thing?” As my mind and spirit softened under His strong embrace, the words of the historic song Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, by Robert Robinson, came to mind:
O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.
If God had not sealed my heart to His with the bonds of love through His Son Jesus, I would have wandered from His fold a long, long time ago. If He had not done such a thing, we would all be damned without hope for how great is our sin! But oh, great is His grace and love! Even when we yield to wanderings, He holds us. He alone is faithful; we are the harlot.  Through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus - bearing our sins upon His sinless nature - we now have peace with God through faith.  How undeserved and yet how joyous are His people that their sins have been forgiven!

God’s Word took me farther into searching for His glory. In Exodus 33:18-23, Moses makes a holy request of God. He says to Him, “God, show me Your glory.” God responds by saying, “I myself will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the Name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and show compassion on whom I will show compassion. You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live! Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”

A passover.  Not giving us what we deserve, but instead graciously and compassionately stooping down to us in His justice and mercy and love. God passed over Moses so that he would not die as he ought. This is the glory of God: that He passes over us, that He does not treat us as our sins deserve, that He became sin who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is the glory of God: His compassion, His love, His grace, His Son. “We have seen the glory of the one and only coming down from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  Jesus Christ: the revelation of God's redemption to sinful man.  Oh, how great a debt - but oh, how much greater the grace (Romans 5:20)!

I saw God’s glory yesterday in Jesus Christ in my time of brokenness. He showed me His faithful love even unto sinners, and He showed me His grace and compassion that He has on man simply because He wills it to be thus.


How great is the Father’s glory, that though we should die, we live.
How great is the Father’s grace, that though we are unmerited, He merits righteousness to us through our Lord Jesus Christ
How great is the Father’s glory, that He should pay attention to and hear the feeble voice of man.
Praise be to God!  Hallelujah!

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