How does the glory reveal itself?

by Rapha Abreu·September 25, 2023·3 min read

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Anyone who has never tried to take control out of God’s hands should throw the first stone…

I often thought that my way was better and closed my ears to what He had to say to me. I closed my eyes to His ways and followed a direction that I invented and judged to be sensible.

In some moments when I decided for myself and for myself, everything worked out right away. But then I saw everything falling apart, becoming almost impossible to hold.

He’s not like us

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
Romans 8:18

If miracles happened as we imagine and according to our dynamics of faith, those miracles we see in the Bible would be different and much less impactful.

This is because often, in our prayers, we plead for deliverance, and not for more structure and strength to face a given situation. But the glory of God is revealed in the midst of trials.

We would not recognize the Father’s grace if it were equal to our thoughts and actions. We would easily think that a certain event occurred due to our strength and desire, as it would be common just as we are.

The glory of the Lord is revealed when there is no longer any way for human beings to be exalted by their deeds. When nothing else can come out of me, God reveals himself as provision, strength and awesomeness. And then we easily understand how He owns all power and wisdom.

He stands out!

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:9

Imagine what miracles would be like if they came from us. Whenever I think about it I imagine something dull and inconspicuous. Because what is very common does not stand out, does not reveal itself.

God goes beyond human understanding and planning. He is and does beyond our understanding.

It is far more powerful to read about men being able to walk under fire (which had burned other people for just approaching, in Daniel 3), than to read about the day the fire didn’t light.

There is much greater power in reading about a sea parting for Moses and the people to pass through than in reading that Pharaoh repented and did not pursue them.

The story of a man who slept among hungry lions has greater grandeur than reading about him only being spared before going to the pit.

Be it the 5%…

“If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference”
A. W. Tozer

As long as we try to glorify ourselves and our ideas, true miracles will not happen. For the revelation of God’s glory begins when man can no longer be exalted.

Moses had nowhere else to go and, if he had been alone by his own strength and determination, a good part of the people (if not all the people there) would have died trying to return to face the pharaoh.

When the force of the crowd ended, God entered with His immeasurable power and strength and the sea parted.

Don’t let your church or your way of thinking become 95% intact in the face of God’s absence. Work every day to increase your 5%, so that nothing is left without the glory of the Father.