His Glory

His Glory

Isaiah 60:2 “For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.”

I thought this was a good verse for today because it seems like the earth is currently covered in darkness and there is even a thick darkness around people.  This darkness can vary.  For some the darkness could be sickness.  We all know our fair share of people that have been really sick over these last two years.  However, in general I think we tend to know more and more people getting sick.  I have never known so many people that either have cancer or have a loved one suffering from it.  And although I am thankful that the success rate for curing it is so much higher than it used to be, there are still far to many people suffering from it.  I know people who are in chronic pain every day and have been for a very long time.  I am sure it seems to them like they are covered in a thick darkness and they probably feel as though there is not end to that darkness.  

To others the darkness might be pure evil.  For instance, the shootings in Texas, in Buffalo and all the others shootings that have been occurring over this year.  Did you know that there have been 240 mass shootings in 2022 alone?  A mass shooting is any occurrence where 4 or more people, not including the shooter, is injured or killed.  We have not have a single week pass by this year where there have been less than 4 mass shootings.  I am not telling you this to start a political debate about gun violence or legislation.  I am telling you this to show you that darkness is covering the earth and darkness is covering the people.  Whether that darkness is causing you to be evil or whether that evil is causing you pain and suffering.  The whole world is suffering right now.  We are suffering because of all the violence in the world, we are suffering because of all the disease in the world and we are suffering because of sin in the world.  

I was talking with a friend the other day and she meditates a lot and is usually very upbeat.  She was really down.  She said her heart and soul feel so heavy over all the violence in this country.  She said she just can’t understand the people that commit the violence.  She can’t understand how it could happen so often.  She said she usually isn’t affected like this but she really is not sure how to shake this feeling.  She is trying to figure out the purpose of it all.  Unfortunately I don’t think there is a purpose to everything.  Sin is corrupting this world and this is not what God wants for us.  This is what he was trying to protect us from.  If everyone in the world was abiding by even just the main two commandments, Love God and love one another, we would’t have any of this violence.  However, the violence and heartbreak is all around us and we need to decide what to do about it.  

We can choose to get lost in this darkness.  We can sit and think about all that is wrong with the world and all try to understand it.  We can spend countless hours watching the news and reading articles about all that is wrong with the world today.  We have that choice.  However, where will that get us?  Will this help us feel any better?  Will this help cure our sadness or our lack of understanding.  I don’t think so.  I think we will be more confused and we will also be a lot more anxious.  I had a friend that was really struggling with anxiety.  She was worried about the future of this country, she was worried about the possibility of another world war, or a civil war.  Her anxiety was getting so bad that it was a struggle to get out of bed in the morning.  When we talked I asked her to stop watching the news for 2 weeks.  After one day she said she felt so much better.  It is so simple and yet we feel we need to watch the news, we need to be informed.  I don’t disagree with the need to be informed, I question how much you need to watch or read in order to be sufficiently informed.  

The second half of this verse says, “but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.”  The thing I think a lot of us are forgetting is just how big our God is.  Yes, we may be outnumbered.  There are far more non-Christians than there are Christians, but when has that ever stopped us before?  Look at the beginning of our religion.  There were the 12 apostles and then in one day the baptized 3,000.  This verse is a reminder to us that the Lord will rise upon us.  We don’t have to figure this world out on our own.  We don’t have to figure it out at all.  That’s God’s job, we just need to keep turning back to Him, and looking to Him for the answers instead of looking to the World for the answers.  God is always with us, we are never alone.  The word “arise” is a verb that means to emerge or become apparent.  This verse doesn’t mean that when the world is in darkness the Lord will finally come.  He never left us.  This verse is just saying that when we are in darkness the Lord becomes more apparent, or He emerges.  This is because when we are in darkness we look for Him. When things are going great, we tend not to look for God.  We are enjoying life, we are happy and we might be grateful, but don’t actively seek Him in the same way that we do when we are in darkness.  

The last thing the verse says is that “his glory will appear over you.”  I read that and I didn’t think it said anything amazing.  I thought it was a nice sentiment but I didn’t grasp the full weight of that phrase until I looked up what “glory” means.  According to the internet, the Bible definition of glory is “ is to describe the splendor, holiness and majesty of God. Glory, in this sense, is often associated with a person experiencing God's presence in a tangible way.” Can you imagine the splendor, holiness and majesty of God appearing over you?  How awesome would it be to experience God’s presence in a tangible way?  I believe you don’t have to be in darkness to feel God’s presence in a tangible way and also I can see how it would be more likely because that is when we are most vulnerable.  We let down our guards when we are in a thick darkness because it is abundantly clear to us that we can’t do it on our own.  We tried, we gave it all we had, and we can’t get out of the darkness without Him.  I think this scripture verse is an awesome verse to remember when you are struggling and going through a hard time.  God is acknowledging that yes, the world is in darkness, and yes, we are too, however, He is there.  His glory is upon us.  If you are in darkness start looking out for God’s Glory.  It will appear over you.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we ask that you help us through this darkness.  Help us to turn away from the darkness and look for the light.  Help us to not focus on the darkness but to keep our eyes fixed on you Lord.  Lord, we ask that you give us the strength we need to wait for your glory.  We ask that you open our eyes to be able to see your Glory when it comes.  You are so amazing Lord and we are truly grateful for all you do for us.  We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow.  Have a blessed day!

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