The Need to be Glorified

"When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee.'" John 17:1

During the years of His ministry, our Lord anti-cipated His coming hour. He knew He faced a time of supreme testing. It had now come. He prayed in the Garden knowing that He stood under the shadow of the cross. He said that His ability to glorify the Father was dependent upon the Father glorifying the Son.

When my wife and I watched our child die, I knew that the only hope I had of giving glory to the Father lay in His willingness to glorify me with His presence, giving me the ability to glorify Him. I had no natural power to respond biblically, reflecting His glory as we passed through ""the valley of the shadow of death."[1] "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness."[2]

When you pass through the fire of adversity, and Scripture assures you that you will,[3] call upon the Father to do for you what He did for His Son. Do not try to glorify God in your own strength. Acknowledge, as did Jesus, that without His presence you will be unable to respond properly to your time of testing.

[1] Psalm 23:4
[2] II Corinthians 12:9
[3] cf. Isaiah 43:2, e.g.