Glory like no one else
SEPTEMBER 15, 2022
Lakeshore friends—
In thinking through a verse I came across in preparing for this Sunday’s message, I was struck by its absolute, definitive nature. It’s Isaiah 42:8 and it says that God will not share His glory with anyone else. No one else. Ever. That’s powerful and poignant.
Despite this, we live in a day where so many people want the glory for what they do. It’s another clear sign that so few people really know who God really is. We see it prominently in sports, in entertainment, and in politics, but it isn’t confined there. People seek all kinds of glory for themselves through social media and in personal achievement. Whenever we seek our own glory, we start to center everything around ourselves. We become the center of our own universe and we will gradually become narcissistic. When that happens, we get upset at people who don’t recognize how great we are. It’s not the best way to live because when life is all about ourselves, we will end up being stressed out. That’s what happens when we’re always thinking about getting people to see us the way we want to be seen… gloriously. It’s a formula for certain failure.
Maybe that’s why God reminds us in Isaiah 42:8 that He will not share His glory with anyone else. He says this because He is the only One who is truly glorious, but I’m sure that He also did so because when we try to claim any of His glory for ourselves, it hurts our life.
On Sunday, I’ll talk more about the glory of God, but in the meantime let’s all try to make sure that we are much more concerned with enjoying and appreciating God’s glory than we are our own. If we do, God will be honored, we won’t be stressed, and others will still like us— even more so than they would if we tried to hijack some of God’s glory for ourselves.
Warmly,
Vince
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