God, Be Glorified

Parents, we should be praying not that our children
would be healthy, happy, and successful,
but that God would be glorified through their lives.

Those words from my pastor continue to weigh on my mind.  I have to confess, I have more often asked God to take care of my children than I have asked that their lives would glorify him.  What higher purpose is there than to bring honor and glory to the one who created us and stands ready to redeem and sustain those who call on him?  But that can be a hard prayer to pray.

A Parable of Two Daughters

Once there were two daughters, unrelated, but sisters at heart.  They met and became good friends.  While each was very much her own person, they found they had a great deal in common.  They shared a sense of adventure, their family backgrounds were remarkably similar, they shared a common faith, and they both embraced life with enthusiasm. 

As they neared graduation, each sought the best opportunity to further her education.  As God would have it, they ended-up attending the same university.  They chose separate courses of study, so, while their paths diverged to a degree, they remained good friends throughout.

Upon finishing their education, the first became a nurse, while the other a missionary – each in their own way serving God.  The first excelled at her work, increased her knowledge and ability, and was soon caring for the most critical patients.  Along the way, she fell in love and was married.  Likewise, the second excelled in her ministry, too, and followed her call to a city and people for whom she cared very deeply.

Along the way, both daughters encountered various challenges and opportunities that they embraced with fervor.  The second found great fulfillment in her work and experienced countless opportunities she might never have known elsewhere.  Though not always easy, she found great satisfaction in seeing others come to know God and in helping the ministry to flourish.

The first also found fulfillment in her work and marriage.  Likewise, she experienced unexpected opportunity, but in a sharply different way.  Very early in her career, she was diagnosed with a grave illness.  It was staggering, nearly devastating.  But with her faith and a deepening maturity, she embraced her battle with the same passion and enthusiasm for life that first drew her and her “sister” together.  She shared her story – openly, honestly, and with a sense of humor that took some by surprise, even as it drew them in.  And as she did so, she grew in ways she’d neither expected nor imagined.  It was almost as if God was doing a work in her, not in spite of, but because of the challenges she was facing.  A work she would never have known any other way.

Last week, the second daughter made final preparations for her wedding.  The first entered hospice care.  In which daughter’s life was God genuinely glorified?

I tell you the truth, it is both.  Despite their very different journeys, despite their very different circumstances, God is glorified in the life of each daughter.  In ways that only God can do, he is faithfully present in each daughter’s experiences, redeeming them for his glory, working through them and in them to accomplish his purposes. 

It is not ours to fully understand the ways of God.  It is very much ours to lean on his character and his word, trusting that he will be glorified in our lives as we yield them to him.  In our lives, and in the lives of our children, God, be glorified.

I am not skilled to understand
what God has willed, what God has planned.
I only know at his right hand
stands one who is my Savior.
                                       -- Aaron Shust