Giving glory to God

Today I want to tell you about a thought process that revamped my psyche and somehow transports me to a parallel space of fascinating euphoria. Well, it works most of the times. No, I’m not talking about psychoactive drugs. I’m talking about a conscious awareness of some facts that influence my motives and subsequently, my actions and state-of-mind eventually. Let me tell you how I came to hear of this life-transforming free hit. I go to this prayer meet, whenever feasible. It’s a small group of women, just a handful of us. I do not remember the exact sequence of events. But, for some reason, this lady began sharing her new way of life. She seemed excited and spoke of how overwhelming it is to have the Holy Spirit reside within her and how it is so beautiful that we get an opportunity to bring Him glory. She just starts off her day and chores with this humble prayer. It is so simple, but all she does is ask God to help her bring glory to Him in whatever she sets out to do! Yeah, yeah, when I first heard it, I was smiling alright. But, in my head, I had all sorts of bullets shooting right at her. In my subconscious mind, I had my eyeballs rolling heavenward. I was thinking- surely her life is perfect. Spare me the condescension please; I was having a very rough day. Okay, make that a week. Wait, hey – I was having the most insufferable few years of my life. And I really would not care to pray for God to help me bring glory to His name. Seriously, woman! First, I pray for myself and my household – for God to fix everything in my life. Then I would probably pray for people I care about. And then maybe, I’ll recite the Miss Universe speech – for humanity, charity, hunger and poverty. Glory to God, that’s the least of my concerns. I can get fanatic in my thoughts in my love for God, but to this point….well, not that day okay!

So, I didn’t really know the lady too well. Turns out she has lived quite the roller-coaster, way more than most of you reading this post today. And now, every moment she dedicates to God. What seemed like psycho-babble in my state of despondency irked me for that moment. But, sometime later I realized most of the scriptures I was reading, the books I read and this feel-good religious psycho-babble from this lady that day…just about everything was steering me towards this same annoying concept. I guess although God wanted to bring me justice and peace and joy and all the spiritual gifts, He wanted me to do {maybe} the same things, albeit with a different mindset. I was doing the same things now, praying for the same things. But, I was attempting to glorify God in the way I went about it. That’s when I came to a secondary realization. I figured out – hey, I’m the apple of His eye, eh! But He wants me to bring Him glory when the world chews and spits me out; that’s a tall order, man! The only way I am capable of not unleashing despair and grief {if not wrath} is if God granted me supernatural ability to do so. So, I started praying differently. I told God I aint capable of mercy and love to the extent your’e expecting from me. And even if I overcome that, I cannot have absolute peace in my heart in the middle of a storm. And even if I were to manage that, I cannot be dancing around like an eccentric maniac when the foundation of my very being has already crumbled and every second brings me closer to my last breath in this quicksand. You need to fill me with your grace firstly. You need to pour out your love, peace and joy into me in such abundance that it overflows. Remove all that was Ruelha. Let me diminish and let Jesus increase within me, just enough to still be me. And let that excess love and peace and joy flow through me into all of my thoughts, words and deeds – overcoming me firstly, and everyone/thing around me. That is the only way I can reflect you and your true nature, God. That is the only way there can be love, peace and joy within me – through grace. That is the only way I can have mercy, love, forgiveness, blessings, peace, joy for your creation, for the rest of humanity, for those who persecute me, betray me, abuse me, ill-treat me, criticize me, ostracize me, belittle me, cheat me, steal from me and attempt to completely destroy me. That is the only way I can bring you glory – by not being me and being dependent entirely on you God. Let me bring glory to your name through You within me.

Well, in all fairness, I have had the privilege of having numerous spiritual mentors over the years and this concept is not a novelty. But, selfish as I am, I never attempted to pay heed to this concept. Somehow, this lady’s words hit me…not that day, not the next week…but sometime later. And I’m glad it did. Because you know what? Most of the times, I see it working. I’m at peace. I have joy and love and I feel full of grace….well – mostly! It’s not religious psycho-babble or something from the self-help section of the library. It’s a detox for thoughts and a way of life – one of the many things I’m learning since I decided to become a practising Christian. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. – Matthew 6:33. In all situations/circumstances give glory to God. Every day is but an oportunity to glorify God. Colossians 3:23 says, Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. And again in the book of Matthew 5:16 we see a similar verse that is echoed all through the Bible, old and new testament alike, In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

- Ruelha,
 still in pursuit though