Friday, February 19, 2016

Ha Kavod Adonai

The Glory of the Lord. Ya, that's what it means. It is why the Lord created humans. We were made to bring Him glory and honor. Some of us do that and some of us don't. Some of us believe and some of us don't. It's the fallen state of the human race. We have to come to know Him before we are able to honor and glorify Him.

As I said, there are those that do and those that don't honor and glorify God. Some fail to honor God because they do not believe He exists. Others begrudgingly acknowledge Him, but they are angry with Him. They think He stacked the deck against them. I understand this. I felt this way for much of my life.

So, what if I told you that He does stack the deck? Further, that He does this so we can achieve the purpose for which we were designed - to bring Him glory.

I have only recently considered this. It came up in a sermon (thanks Steve) I heard last Sunday and in a conversation again yesterday. The question is, does God put us in miserable situations or bad circumstances for His own purposes, stacking the deck against us, so that we bring Him glory by the way we deal with it?

For years I was angry with God because I'm gay and I thought He should do something about it, but He did not. Praying never changed that situation. Prayer enabled me to resist, but it did not cure my unnatural desires. It was a wedge that I could not remove in our relationship. I held Him responsible. My anger continued for years.

At one point, I came to the conclusion that God was not responsible for my misplaced sexual desire. It had to be something else. I have held that position for quite awhile now. The flesh is broken after all. Only He can heal it...but the questions still remains, then why doesn't He?

Then someone said, "Jeff, you are what you are because God made you that way." Thanks Karla for helping to change my mind.

Really? Why would God make me gay and then forbid me to have that kind of life? Is that not the definition of a cruel god?

Well, no...not really. In the bigger picture of things, what could bring more glory to the Lord than a man who, against all odds, withstands the slings and arrows of  his own desires and lives in spiritual victory because the Lord enabled him to do so?

Ya I know, maybe that's the deal. God takes something as broken and bent as me and makes me a lens to magnify His glorious light. Now we're talking.

I'm gay and even so, I bring glory to God. His power is an amazing thing.

Lord, thanks for Loving me and making me as you wanted me to be. Please continue to use me as a testimony of your power and help me ever to point to your glory. I love you. Amen      

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