Our story for His glory

Our story for His glory. This is a phrase that has popped into my head several times this past week. And at the most odd times. I won’t say, but it may or may not involve the bathroom. :) It came to my mind again this morning while I was still laying in bed. Our life is not our own. It is not about us. And because I have heard this so many times, I wonder what God is preparing us for. When I think about our new house, I think how nice it will be when we get in, and can just enjoy being together. Warm in our cozy house. Just each other. Comfortable and happy. And I would be lying if I didn’t say that I wanted to be comfortable and happy. But God’s glory really does trump all that. Happiness seems so fickle. I just think how lame that would be to just live in our new house and exist. For what?? Without Jesus, this life is pretty meaningless. That is why I have a hard time understanding how people don’t believe in God or Jesus or anything. What do they think we are here for? To just live and then die and then nothing? No wonder why people want to just live life and be happy. If this is all there is, no eternity, then this would be the goal. But it’s not. And joy, true joy comes from doing what God has laid out for us in this life. Following his path wherever he leads. Being obedient to his call, because when we are living out what he has called us to do, that is when we find true joy. He knows us, and he wants what’s best for us. I think this is a huge thing. As I talk to people, young girls that God has put in my life, even friends, I think that trust in God for what he has in store for us is a hard thing. Does God really have the best in mind for me? And most often we question it, because God’s best usually isn’t what I have in mind as my best or what I think I want in life. And we know that. Isn’t that right?? I struggled with that for a long time, before I gave my life wholeheartedly to the Lord. I was raised in an amazing Christian home, and accepted Christ when I was in fourth grade, and again and again every time I had the opportunity after that. Sound familiar to anyone?! But I had to wrestle through what it meant to really trust the Lord with my WHOLE LIFE and give him everything, before I finally gave it all up when I was 23. And I understand. I remember it vividly – I was in my room, spending time with God, and wrestling with my singleness, crying, as I gave him control. I told him I wanted what he wanted for me even if that included being single my whole life. It is not an easy thing! There is a lot of fear in releasing our own desires and giving the Lord the wheel. That is an analogy used in Young Life. Are we at the wheel and driving the car, with Jesus in the passenger seat, or have we given Jesus the steering wheel? Because there is a big difference. A lot of us go through life in the drivers’ seat but think that we have given control to Jesus. And I think it is a very normal thing. In this world we are taught to be strong and take care of ourselves and make our own way. But that is not God’s way. Everything about God’s way is so different because it doesn’t involve us making anything happen, it involves us letting go and letting God lead us. Giving up the control. The two are so very different, but isn’t it interesting how the evil one can twist it to have us thinking that God is in control. If we are in the driver’s seat, God is not. It’s simple.

In Jesus Calling today, this truth is affirmed. He leads us, step by step. He asks us to hold his hand and let him guide us. “Your future looks uncertain and feels flimsy – even precarious. That is how it should be. Secret things belong to the Lord, and future things are secret things. When you try to figure out the future, you are grasping at things that are Mine. This like all forms of worry, is an act of rebellion: doubting My promises to care for you.” I love this! And then he goes on to say that whenever you find yourself worrying about the future, repent and return to Me. How simple. It just takes obedience. So, many times throughout the days and weeks, I have to do that. I am not trying to figure out the future as much now, but I do wonder. I think that is why He keeps speaking to me in simple words. This life is all about Him and what He wants to do through us. Our story, for His glory. It changes every single thing that we do. And anything that happens to us. When we look at it in light of God’s glory, it makes all things bearable, and we even will experience joy in the middle of it. And nothing touches us that Jesus doesn’t know about. That His loving hand hasn’t allowed. This is a weird thought at times, but I believe that God is Sovereign and bigger than we can comprehend. I am glad, I don’t want to comprehend all the things of God, because if I could, he wouldn’t be a God worth that much would he? And yet we try to figure things out……….. I am thankful that when we do that, He simply says, repent and return to Me. No guilt, no condemnation, no less love for us than he had before, just repent and return to Me. Now that is the God I serve!