Glory Moments

 

God wants all of me.  No reservations.  No portions.  Every single fiber of my being. 

 

When I surrendered drugs and alcohol, I thought I was doing pretty well...and even patted myself on the back. What I didn't know is that was only the beginning. Then he put his finger on my career.  My nursing license.  That was a little tougher to let go.  But I knew it had to be surrendered in order for me to really walk with God and stay sober.  Then it was the decision to stay in Gadsden and not go back to familiar places that I associated with my addiction. And then smoking.

 

I could go on and on and on, but the point is this: I will forever be offering parts of my life to the Lord. That is the very nature of sanctification. And some areas of my life have been easier to surrender than others. I am seeing what a white-knuckler I am.  God has to go to extreme measures to bring things into submission in my life.  I want to kick and scream and cry and pitch a fit (and sometimes, I do!) "God, don't take THIS! Let me hold on to it, please?!?"  The answer is a resounding "NO."

 

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. -Luke 9:23

 

But there is joy in surrender. 

 

Every part of my life that is surrendered is an act of worship to me.  These are the moments when I see more of God's glory.  The moments when I see more of his face.

The more I die, the more alive he is in me. 

 And it makes me thankful that growing in Christ is a process, because I think if we saw all of our sin at once, we would really not be able to handle it.  The same way with understanding and getting to know God.  If we saw all of his glory at once, we would say with Isaiah  “Woe is me! For I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”  -Isaiah 6:1

 

I am still an infant.  A stubborn infant, at that.  But by the grace of God I am not who I once was.  He is bringing everything into submission. 

 

"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another." 2 Corinthians 3:18