For my joy and His glory

I've been thinking a lot about the power of Christ lately. His power to heal, to destroy, to tame, to separate, to allow two people to fall in love, to take life, to give life. In all these things, one thing is constant.... the purpose. Why does God allow evil and why doesn't He pour out more good? What are His purposes when he allows hurt in our lives? God has so graciously been revealing this answer to me; it's for His glory. Everything that happens is because of Him, through Him and for Him. No one can pull a quick one on our Creator. He exists to make much of Himself and he chooses to use little me to accomplish that. What an honor that our heavenly Father gives to us to be the workmen of His mighty plan. We, as humans cannot see the fullness of God's plan but it's for that very reason that we choose to obey Him; for the day will come when we will see as He sees. We will understand all that He meant for our good which appeared so evil.

I've started to realize, through the meditation on the Word, that followers of Christ were followers b/c they sought to magnify Christ. They did this not as a duty of their calling but as a DELIGHT. "For the joy set before them..." they shared the gospel. It was fun for them! They received the reward and Christ received the glory! Hedonistic? In every sense of the word. Paul, for example, knew how to pursue his own joy IN Christ. For a long time I considered this selfish. I had such a martyr-istic view of Paul. It seemed unattainable to live like he did- to suffer & find the joy all along. But God called him by name from birth and even when he was blaspheming the scriptures & studying them zealously so as to mock them, God was at work. God was equipping Paul to serve Him when he was an atheist. How amazing!! After Paul is converted on the road to Damascus, (Acts 9) he receives joy which he's never felt before. (Anyone can feel happy, but only the power of God can give you joy) From there on out, Paul is on a hot pursuit for his joy and for the Lord's glory! These two happen simultaneously. We only feel true joy when we bring the Lord glory and God only receives glory when we are truly joyful!

This powerful realization has radically changed my daily priorities. Instead of praying, "Lord, let me help someone today." or "Lord, keep my husband safe today.", the first thing I pray is "Lord, help me to be happy in You today." I now realize that like Paul, the most important thing is being happy in the Lord.

So, each day, instead of first praying for your family's health, your job, your marriage, your children, or the lost,.....pray for yourself and for the pursuit of joy in Christ which gives Him the most glory.

P.S. John Piper's Desiring God is a wonderful book. Pick up a copy for your reading delight!