DAY
25
A REVELATION OF GLORY
ISAIAH 40:1-5
Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
ISAIAH 40:5
GOD’S REVELATION of glory has always come in the most unlikely circumstances: at the edge of the Red Sea with no apparent way to cross it; when his people are vastly outnumbered but are singing his praises on a battlefield; in a den of lions or a fiery furnace; and, most surprisingly, on a Roman instrument of torture and death. Looking from the front end of these traumatic events, God’s glory seemed to be nowhere in view. On the back end . . . well, we’re still talking about what God did to overcome his enemies and rescue his people. In each case, the revelation of glory was so glorious because the circumstances were so dire.
That’s how impressive victories work. We applaud a miraculous comeback or a stunning reversal of fortune. The most captivating music is often the most difficult to play. We expect good movies and books to take us to the depths before they take us to the heights. The dawn is most beautiful after the darkest nights. Heroes become heroes in extreme circumstances, not comfortable ones. In other words, glory is best observed in contrast—which means the Cross, that ugliest of deaths, is the perfect stage for an unexpected revelation.
Think about how hopeless things looked as Jesus surrendered his spirit on the cross. His followers had placed all their messianic hopes on him. Many had heard from his own mouth that he was God’s Son. In spite of his warnings to the contrary, they set their expectations on some sort of immediate reign in this material realm. They had no sense of where they stood in history or how universal this Messiah would be. Their hopes for their redemption and Israel’s deliverance hung bleeding and disfigured on a Roman cross and were then placed in a sealed tomb. Things don’t get more hopeless than that.
But no situation is hopeless with God, of course. Impossibilities don’t actually represent things that are impossible; they represent opportunities for glory. God’s glory was revealed on a cross in Jerusalem nearly two thousand years ago, and it is revealed every time he intervenes in our lives. The greater the difficulty, the greater the revelation.
Remember this the next time you feel hopeless. Your circumstances may not change immediately—though don’t rule that out—but if you hold on to faith, God will reveal himself in them eventually. Every life, including yours, is designed in one way or another to become a display of his glory.
PRAYER
Father, that’s my desire—to be a revelation of your glory. You’ve demonstrated your goodness time after time, even when my eyes were focused on impossibilities. Display your nature for me, in me, and through me. Amen.
In what ways did God reveal his glory at the cross? How does he reveal it today?
Further reading: John 1:14
Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle,
With completed victory rife,
And above the cross’s trophy,
Tell the triumph of the strife.
LATIN HYMN, VENANTIUS FORTUNATUS