Glory

I read Isaiah 35 today.  It is about how the Lord brings His splendor to a parched land, and the inhabitants “see the glory of the lord, the splendor of our God.”(vs 1 – 2).  He encourages His people to “strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way . . . “ during their trials,  just as written in Hebrews 12:12.

After reading this part of Isaiah I remembered a dream from last year. Before my husband began building a second story onto our home, I had a dream where someone asked me to walk with her down a valley with a tall cliff on one side.  It was soon going to be dark, and the journey was a long one.  I knew it would be cold, and we would take a while to get where we were going.  But she pointed out that there was “glory” when we reached our destination.  From where I stood, I could see that the final stretch of the cliffs had a bright glow from the sun, much like Yosemite’s Alpenglow.  So I agreed to go.

Much like a journey, our trials are a period of time during which the Lord purifies us for His glory. Since my husband took our roof off and built the shell of the 2nd story, it has been very cold in our home.  I’m thankful that we are dry, but the construction has been a slow process.  You might say it has been a trial.  However, we love each other and are working together to finish this project so that our house will be done someday soon! The trial will be over and the glory will begin.

As I continued to read in Isaiah 35 I saw that those whom the Lord strengthened during the trial, He also made whole.  The blind saw, the deaf heard, the lame walked (and leapt) and the mute sang. Also, a highway called “the Way of Holiness” would be in their land. It actually was a road that wicked people could not walk on . . . just the redeemed, the ransomed of the Lord walk there.

The outcome of our trials is more than being strengthened and made whole; we also will partake of God’s divine nature.

“ . . . seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (1 Pet 1:3-4)

God does not put us into trials because He thinks we are so very bad.  He puts us into trials because He wants to prepare us for more of Himself.  If we walk in our flesh and live a selfish life, we will not want to partake of Him for His ways do not lead to satisfaction of our lustful desires.  During our trials we shed our lustful ways, and seek God for His Way . . . the Way of Holiness.

After our trials have ended, we will have “everlasting joy” and “sorrow and sighing will flee away.” (Is 35:10). We won’t remember the pain of the trial because our joy will be so great.  That is like the glory at the end of the journey in the cold and dark. Like the dream I had, we all will enter into times that are not comfortable (and are down-right unpleasant), but there is going to be glory when it is over.  That is what the Lord has destined us for.

Perhaps you are going through a bit of a dry period, a period where you feel like a barren land.  God will bring you into splendor, and the Way you walk in will lead you into His nature.  Your destination is glory, not destruction, so have faith in the work God is doing, and take the journey that is before you.  Amen.