The Glory of God

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (John 11:40)

Is God at work in my life? Is he revealing his glory in and through me, even in my weakness? One episode this past week gives an affirmative answer to these questions. Wright had told me of a friend, Mrs. Han, living in Taipei who may help me find a university teaching job and could share about her ministry to college students. So I called this woman and left a message in English as plainly spoken as I could manage. I subsequently lost her phone number and was unable to find it from anyone else. It seemed that this contact would lead to nothing. Yet I got an email from a friend I met at the English Bible Study saying she had just met with this woman I had been trying to contact. Keep in mind that I know very few people in Taiwan at this point. This person Mrs. Han was meeting with was one of the very few people in Taiwan who had my contact information. I came up in their conversation and the friend shared my information with Mrs. Han. Now, it turns out this Bible study was at Mrs. Han’s church. She had been unable to understand the message I had left her and I had lost her phone number. I was precluded from using ordinary means to connect with Mrs. Han. So I had basically given up hope in this connection. But as it turns out, God had rendered ineffective ordinary means so that he could use extraordinary means for his glory. At this point, I would ask you to pray for God’s guidance for me in the context of this church and a potential job opportunity at a nursing college here through Mrs. Han.

This account reminds me of the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in John 11. Mary and Martha had sought healing for a sick Lazarus; yet Jesus delayed his coming by two days. Because Jesus had delayed, the glory of Lazarus’ restoration, even resurrection from the dead, became so much more wonderful. Likewise, the means that I sought in the story above paled in comparison to the ones that God used to make his glory known.