It’s truly awe-inspiring how God, instead of rejecting us for our sins and weaknesses, chooses to transform our lives. He sees us as vessels of His glory, through which He can infuse His presence and create perfection. His mercy is boundless, and He continually shows us areas where we can experience greater freedom.
But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18
These encounters with glory may seem much less illustrious when they happen in our lives. They can look like revelations of sin, privately during prayer and study or publicly. They may come as our weaknesses become blatantly displayed in front of our eyes. Through correction, failures, confrontation, and times of discomfort, we come in contact with transforming glory that we are invited to submit to.
I rarely embrace these instances as experiencing the glory of the Lord, but encountering truth and grace in the midst of lies and brokenness is just that. Love risks offense for the sake of redemption. Christ displayed this many times throughout His ministry and His dealings with people. Matthew 23 displays a few examples of this. This chapter reveals Christ calling out the scribes and Pharisees as “blind guides” and “hypocrites.” His language is incredibly direct, bringing their sin clearly into the light. The uncovering of sin, while crucial, was not the end goal. It isn’t the pinnacle of our glory encounters, either.
For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. John 3:16-19
It is in the exposure of sin we can observe God’s goodness and the miracle of grace. In those times, we have the opportunity to experience the rescuing power of God. He offers His hand and asks us to trust Him to lead us away from the things that would cause us harm. We must then decide if our sin is to be indulged or discarded. Do we love the darkness rather than the light, like it says in John 3:19? Walking with God requires intentionality. It requires effort, though it is never an unbearable weight when done in God’s way. God’s sovereign will is going to be done regardless, but we get to be participators in the work when we allow the sanctifying work of His Spirit to transform us. On the other hand, staying in sin requires only accepting our current state, whether passively or in deliberate rebellion. Though the latter seems to be the option that will result in the least amount of resistance, it will drain our trust, faith, and strength.
I must confess that in my weakness, I often test how much I can surrender to God while still maintaining control of all the things going on in my life. Once revealed, the sin adhered to will make it increasingly difficult to cultivate and maintain an intimate relationship with God. It doesn’t change God or affect His view of me, but chasing emptiness while knowing better strains my heart. In my heart, the two can’t maintain equal footing. One will have predominance, and to think otherwise is to allow myself to be deceived.
Mercy and compassion reveal this truth. It is not an indictment. As we face the unfavorable aspects of our own nature, we can train ourselves to see that they are encounters with God. In the light of His glory, brokenness can be restored, fear can be drowned out, and we can be transformed.
With your faithful love, you will lead the people you have redeemed; you will guide them to your holy dwelling with your strength. Exodus 15:13
