Have you ever considered what the deal was between Jehovah and Enoch? The Bible simply says Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Some have speculated that maybe they spent so much time walking together that one day God said “We are closer to my place than yours so why don’t you just come home with me?”
And that may be true; although Enoch would have gone into Paradise to await the resurrection of Jesus like every other pre-crucifixion saint. Still it may have meant that he died and it was the way of saying it in those days. In Second Kings chapter Two God took Elijah while he was yet living to heaven in a chariot of fire. Although it was certainly a rare thing it does not appear from the text that it was an unheard of event. Life went on afterward, just as when Enoch was taken. Job suffered beyond any human capacity to endure. Moses died in the land of Moab and God buried him where no man knows his grave. So what could God have said to Enoch or any of these others that would allow them to want to continue with Him?
Often, when hard things happen in our lives, we want to ask God questions. I am not any different than most folks. I’ve experienced hard times and difficulties and have wondered about the plan and purpose of God. But one day in the midst of my yearning, God gave me an insight that I think is probably what He told Enoch and Moses and Elijah and Lazarus and so many, many more. The answer to every why question is found in this simple answer and honestly it is enough.
“You bring Me Glory”. There is no rebuttal, no discussion, no lack of understanding for any believer. And I don’t think He means just a little bit either. He means by the bucket load full. The hurt and sorrow and difficulty you go through brings God bucket loads of glory. The fact that you turn to Him, knowing He is the only real source of solace and comfort. Knowing every moment of life is for His plan and purpose. Knowing He does everything well. No seeming lack of ours is a surprise to Him. Every moment of our loneliness occurs in His presence. So that when we turn to Him and hear Him, we know His words are spoken from the throne room of Heaven into the depths of our soul. “You bring Me Glory”.
Yes He says “I love you” and He says
“You bring Me Glory”.
There is not a situation, an event, a failure or a thought that is not washed away in the flood of love that is known when we hear Him say “You bring Me Glory”. Isaiah 43:7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. It is the banner under which we shall pass when we enter the gates of that glorious home He has prepared for us. It is the banner under which we march each day of our brief lives. It is the under lying sound of each exhaled breath from our physical bodies. The first time I tried it I was amazed at the power and presence that was real and igniting as I listened to my breathe going out from my body and hearing Him say that with that breath “You bring Me Glory”. It is a marvelous thing to simply consider the majesty of His creation and know your part in it as He says “You bring Me Glory”.
And you do! If you have confessed that He is and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. If you have believed in what He has done for you as the propitiation for your sin. If you know that you know that He has forgiven you, He says “You bring Me Glory”.
In John fifteen eight Jesus says “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples”.God is glorified, you bring Him glory, when you cause others to know and understand His truth, when you are used by Him to make more disciples. The difficulties of life that you experience are merely vessels through which bucket loads of glory are poured out before God’s throne. When you acknowledge His sovereign purpose in your life and in our weakness we proclaim as David in Psalm Sixty two seven” “ In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God”.
Remember there is not a circumstances He is absent from nor an occasion He has not provided a way of escape from. So anytime someone wants to ask Why? Anytime some claim to not to understand the purpose of His plan, just remind them that He says
“You bring Me Glory”.