Shine

My very dear friend Brittany sent this to me today from one of my favorite preachers James McDonald. How often we try and question God when things happen and in the end all that matters is "Did it bring Him the Glory?" Love ya Britt.

When It Storms

May 31 2011

Been thinking a lot lately about the disasters that keep raging around us, the tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and devastation that have brought a tragic end to so many lives…and turned survivors’ lives upside down. And thinking about how those and more personal storms—car accident, cancer diagnosis, marital breakdown—can leave us begging for answers to “why?” as we cling to the hands of a sovereign God.

The jury is out on a lot of things we’ve been seeing and have yet to face, but the glory of God is a done deal. In the end, we’re all going to agree, “I see it now! Even that was for the glory of God!”
The glory of God is what will make sense when nothing else does. The glory of God is why we don’t roll up and quit when times are hard or even when disaster strikes. It’s why we don’t say, “Well, I’m not going to be able to preach for a month because I’ve got my own stuff happening right now. I’m going through a personal trial; I’m not going to be able to lead my small group anymore. I’m kind of going through some hard times. I hope you’ll understand that I’m not living like a Christian right now because the pressure’s on.” That’s epic fail.
But it’s an epic win when we press on to bring God glory through the very things that could undo us—because then He gets even more glory. “…You have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6-7
God allows His children to go through the same things that people who don’t know Him go through, so that we can handle them differently, so that we can bring Him glory by displaying His supernatural signature.
The reason we get to draw another breath is for the glory of God.