God’s Glory Through Trials

John 12:27-28

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. ‘Father, glorify Your Name!’ Then a voice came from Heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.’”

Jesus knew what was coming. He was destined to die in the most excruciating and painful way in order to save us from our sins. He could have said no, He could have backed out, but He chose to glorify God instead. Jesus’ response in these verses—the day He predicted His death—reminded me of Isaiah 43:18, “But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.” So many of us doubt God’s plans and turn to disbelief when things don’t go our way, but Jesus knew that God’s plans were exact representations of who He is: loving and faithful. There is promise after purpose, and we wouldn’t be here today if Jesus had asked God to save Him from the brutal death He was about to encounter. Our salvation was the promise after Jesus’ great purpose.

While so many tribulations and challenges still overcome us in our day-to-day lives, let us remember how Christ glorified God through overcoming His. I personally have experienced daily discomfort and pain in life ever since I was diagnosed with skin asthma when I was two years old. I am 21 years old now, and it still hurts a lot to have your skin cracking and full of wounds when all you want to do is create art and play music. I don’t know why God allowed this pain to happen in my life, but I do know that His Son went through a lot of pain to save it. This is why I could confidently claim His power over my life and while some nights, it feels impossible to be healed, I know He has healed my heart from living a life that is made puppet by the hard circumstances of life. Every time I look at my hands now, I don’t have to think of pain, because I get to use it for His glory through our multimedia ministry at church.

I’m pretty sure all of us have had anxious and worried hearts throughout the past year, and this is not to say that being a follower of Jesus means we invalidate that. It means we get to have the peace that transcends all understanding, simply because our hope does not depend on the circumstances we are facing right now, but because it depends on an almighty and faithful God who loved us before we even decide to love Him. There is no doubt that God’s heart is pure and faithful, leading us step-by-step towards our purpose. Jesus has already defeated our battles in the Cross, and that is because He didn’t back down from the path God has shed light upon Him. He makes us whole, and delivers us through.

Wherever you are in your life right now, whatever is in your heart right now, all these point back to God. The moment He decided to let Jesus into the world as a human being and go through worldly hardships; that is the greatest form of love we get to experience. At the minute we decide the best decision of our lives—which is to follow Christ’s heart as we live lives full of purpose—we get to share this same love with those around us.

Points to Ponder: