For the Glory of God

We’ve talked a bit about one reason for painful things happening in our lives (see Pruning, Job, Heading into the Storm, and The Little Stuff). But there are three other reasons I can see in the Bible. One of these Jesus calls “for the glory of God” (John 9 and 11). But what does that mean? In simplest terms, it means something that reveals – and hopefully advances – the Kingdom of God.

In John 9:1 we meet a man who has been blind all his life. The disciples, only being aware of a connection between suffering and sin, ask Jesus, “Whose fault is it that this man was born blind: was it his sin or the sin of his parents?” Jesus replies that it was the fault of neither but so that the hand of God might be displayed in this man’s life.

Wow. This grown man had been blind (never an easy thing but possibly even worse back then) since birth just so Jesus could come along and heal him? Seems a bit much.

But look at the results. God is revealed to the man, his parents, his neighbors and the religious leaders. To all it has an effect. The man becomes a follower of Jesus while his parents and the leaders choose to reject Jesus.

We see the same thing with the story of the death of Lazarus (John 11 and 12:9-10). Jesus could have saved Lazarus from dying but He didn’t. Not only that, but when He heard that Lazarus was sick, Jesus delayed His response for two days. So Lazarus not only died but, by the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been entombed for longer than the three days that Jewish tradition taught that the soul stayed with the body after death.

Why all the seemingly needless pain and suffering (on the part of Lazarus, his family and his friends) when Jesus was going to restore Lazarus to health and life anyway? Again, to reveal the handiwork of God. As with blind man, everyone one was affected by this miracle. Many put their trust in Jesus while others rejected and sought to kill him.

One final example since, in an earlier post (Heading into the Storm), I spoke of how storms can be used to mature us. In Acts 27:13 – 28:10 Paul encounters a life-threatening storm. It is through no fault of his and, furthermore, there is no clear indication that the storm brings about an increase in Paul’s maturity and closeness to God. Rather, the storm is used (successfully) to declare God to the soldiers and sailors on board the ship as well as to the inhabitants of the island on which they are finally shipwrecked.

So when a storm comes in your life (as they so often do), one thing to look for is how it can positively influence others for the Kingdom of God. It’s not what most people think of when they think of evangelism but it may be the very thing needed to save those around you.