How to Describe God’s Glory to a Hurting World
If someone asked you, “How would you describe God’s glory?”
What would you say?
You and I live in a world full of suffering and conflict … a world that desperately needs the truth about God.
And because of that, I want everyone to know about a glorious righteous God who transforms broken and hurting people into individuals who are strengthened and filled with hope … into communities of made over through God’s love.
For me, a huge part of telling people about God has been explaining all He has done for me.
But I also want to be able to tell them about Him … about who He says He is in the Bible.
And the Bible tells me He is glorious…
Moses asked to see God’s glory.
“Please show me your glory.”
Exodus 33:18 (NCV)
And although God would not allow him to see His face, He did reveal a glimpse and a description…
“Yahweh, the Lord, is a kind and merciful God. He is slow to become angry. He is full of great love. He can be trusted. He shows his faithful love to thousands of people. He forgives people for the wrong things they do, but he does not forget to punish guilty people.
Exodus 34:6–7
David wrote this about God’s glory…
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies announce what his hands have made.
Psalm 19:1
And John wrote…
The Word became a human and lived among us. We saw His glory—the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father—and he was full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
And finally, Jesus said.
“Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
John 11:40
You see, the struggle we have in describing God’s glory is that His glory is not a part of Him. It’s a trait like height, hair color, or personality.
God’s glory is who He is!
God’s glory is His character, His nature, His way of relating to His creation.
God did not give Moses a vision of His power and majesty (although He certainly could have)…
He showed Moses His love.
God glory is demonstrated in His love and He has revealed His glory to you and me through His mercy and grace … through Jesus.
Through Jesus, He is always ready to forgive us and willing to help when we ask. He is faithful and just, slow to get angry willing to give us time to repent.
And He is always generous and gracious with His goodness, truth, compassion, and love.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians…
[ The God of Glory ] How blessed is God! And what a blessing He is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in Him. Long before He laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love. Long, long ago He decided to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure He took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of His lavish gift-giving by the hand of His beloved Son.
Ephesians 1:3–6 (MSG)
How beautiful is that?!
Through His glory, God has chosen you and me. He has adopted us into His family. He has blessed us with His lavish love!
Lavish!
The dictionary defines lavish as … being given in great amounts or without limit.
Think about that for a minute.
God pours out His love without limit!
Satan’s greatest temptation is the lie that we should question and doubt God’s goodness and love.
But God refutes that lie through the gift of Jesus who has shown us the lavishness of His love.
Jesus … fully God and fully man is God’s glory in a human body.
He said…
The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does His work through me.
John 14:10
The Way, the Truth, and the Life – shows us God’s redeeming love.
I love this quote from John Piper…
Consider Jesus. Know Jesus. Learn what kind of Person it is you say you trust and love and worship. Soak in the shadow of Jesus. Saturate your soul with the ways of Jesus. Watch Him. Listen to Him. Stand in awe of Him. Let Him overwhelm you with the way He is.
I invited my friends to share some ways to describe God’s glory and share it with others…
Exercising a Heart of Obedience by Nicki Schroeder
… Trusting God’s plan even when it’s hard and using it to tell of His grace and give Him glory.
How to Set Goals that Glorify God Every Day, Every Year by Diana Abe
… 3 ways to plan and set goals to intentionally give God glory.
An Intimate Portrait of the God Who Pursues Me by Marva Smith
… God pursues you and me because He loves us so very much! His love reflects His glory.
Powerful Ways God Shows Up When You Least Expect It by Valerie Murray
… Beautiful ways simple acts of unexpected kindness show us God’s glory.
The Purpose Behind Christian Hospitality by Dawn Klinge
… Beautiful ways of opening our homes to others give God glory.
Friend, when you want to describe God’s glory … tell your story!
Tell people! Show people. Gentle and respectfully describe how…
God is your Provider…
This same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:!9
God is your Healer…
O Lord, if You heal me, I will be truly healed; if You save me, I will be truly saved. My praises are for You alone!
Jeremiah 17:14
God is your Savior…
Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard Him ourselves. Now we know that He is indeed the Savior of the world.”
John 4:42
God is LOVE…
We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 1 John 4:16
John 4:16
That’s it! Simply…
Tell the nations of His glory; tell all peoples the miracles He does, because the Lord is great; He should be praised at all times.
Psalm 96:3–4a
Oh, there’s one more thing…
After Moses had been with God:
… he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the Lord.
Exodus 34:29b
Don’t you just love that?!
Moses’ face reflected God’s glory!
Oh, how I want that!
Can you imagine the difference it could make if the faces of God’s children reflected His glory?
I want that! I want people to be able to tell that I’ve spent time with God because it shows. I want God’s glory to be reflected in everything I say and do … and even if I don’t say or do a thing. I want people to see His glory in the expression on my face.
I long, too, for people to see God’s glory shining from me, Deb! Beautiful post honoring our glorious and loving Father.
Blessings!
Amen, Martha! What a wonderful prayer! Thanks so much for your kindness! Blessings, my friend!
I’m reading through the gospel of Luke and so much of what you’ve said here jumps off the pages. It’s all about giving Christ the glory in our words and in our deeds, Deb! Thanks for sharing this! Love the John Piper quote too!
Thanks, Beth! I am blessed by your encouragement! God bless you!
It is so good to be here soaking in this beautiful challenge, Deb! God’s glory really is difficult to describe. It’s beyond what our words provide! I’ve always taught my kids that we do ALL things to His glory as scripture says. Our Words, actions, efforts … all of it. If it doesn’t represent Him well, then don’t do it. It’s easy to slip into worldly ways so we all have to remind each other more often than I wish, though!!
Love you!
I love that, Lori! I’m asking myself “What would give God glory?” or #WWGGG in decision making. I believe it can make a huge difference in our lives and in the ways we relate to one another. You’re right! If we don’t keep it in mind, we easily slip into the ways of the world. Thanks, my friend!
Hello Deb! I just want to say that this post is the most beautiful post I’ve read in a long time and it really hit home with me when I needed it most. God bless you for sharing such beautiful words and the right time in my life. I love your blog, very uplifting and very appreciated. You are a true blessing to me, and I’m sure to many others, Hugs, Karen
Karen, that is so very kind of you! Thank you! I’m so glad it blessed you! You certainly blessed my day by taking the time to visit and leave a comment. God bless you!
Moses face reflected Gods glory. Very profound statement. Thanks for sharing.
I can’t imagine what that must have been like for the Children of Israel, Bisi. To have to ask Moses to cover his face because of the glow as he reflected the glory of being in God’s presence. Thanks so much for visiting. God bless you!
Hi Deb, I’m at a low point in my life once again and am trying to use the glory of God to help me through this difficult time. Your words are very inspiring, and reading them I know and understand that only through the glory of God will I be lifted and feel good about myself once again. I stumbled upon this post and as I was reading it I starting to think how happy I was to have found it. Then it hit me! I didn’t simply find it, I was pointed here by God to get the inspiration I need to be lifted in the glory of God. Thank you so much for your inspiring words. I will hold onto them daily and learn truly learn how to celebrate the glory of God. God bless you.
Terry, thank you so much for your kind encouragement! I’m so glad you visited and you definitely blessed my day by taking a moment to say “hello.” I’m asking God to hold you close and continue to encourage you as you live for His glory! God bless you!
God gave us lavishly and yet we hold back lot of things from Him !
I love this post because living for God’s glory in the most difficult time is praise worthy
Thank you for adding my post here as well
To God be all glory