All for the Glory of God

Lent Day 34

“The illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it…”

— John 11:4—

During seminary, one of my professors, we’ll call him Dr. Howard, had severe chronic pain. Ambulances in front of the school were not frequent, but they were also not surprising.

One night, we came back and found him lying on the floor. The pain had reached a level we had heard about, but none of has had witnessed till now. It was only natural that students would desire to pray over him while he lay there, paralyzed by pain. One student timidly asked, “Can I pray for you?” The professor said, “Yes.”

I can remember standing there praying and thinking, “What if God heals him right here?” but nothing happened, or so it seemed. It may seem cliché, but while his classes were some of the most informative and entertaining, what really impacted the students was his willingness to endure his suffering for the sake of their education and the lessons he taught us through his perseverance. One night during one of our Old Testament classes, I asked him, “What’s the purpose of success and failure in the life of the Christian?” His answer was profound, but first, a little back story.

Winners & Losers

I attended a small Bible College named Cedarville University during my freshman year. I was there on scholarship for Cross Country and Track & Field. Before the start of a race, our team would always do a final pre-race sprint to loosen up our legs, form a huddle, pray for God to bless our performance, and then we would shout in unison, “All for the glory of God!”

One day, we were at an all-Christian-college Cross Country invitational, and I noticed that all the schools were basically doing the same thing. Running out their final stride, huddling together, praying the other teams would lose, and then shouting a praise to God. In the end, God was bound to answer one team’s prayers and reject the others. That may be how it appears, but that is not necessarily the full result.

Puzzled by this observation, I put it out of my mind, laced up my spikes, toed the line, and waited for the gun. Sure enough, 25 minutes later, there was a team that won and a team that lost. This experience stuck with me, especially during my later college years, which were spent competing in the NCAA.

For the Glory of God

Shortly after seminary, I found myself a washed-out athlete and considering further education for an M.A. in Philosophy at an unknown seminary. After a year of post-collegiate training in Colorado, I thought I was going to have a promising athletic career, but physical and mental burnout brought about my demise.

Fast forward to seminary, where Dr. Howard was giving a lecture and preparing to respond to my question, “Dr. Howard, what’s the purpose of success and failure in the life of the Christian?”

His answer, “Their purpose is the same. To make us more like Christ.” He paused and let the answer hang in the air. I almost said, “Thanks,” but then he continued, “Sometimes, things can get so bad, though, that you need someone in your life to remind you of this fact, that failure and success are to form you into Christ.”

He proceeded to tell us about a time when the pain was so bad, he wasn’t sure how he was going to live with it. He told us how his wife had been there for him in his time of need and saved him from despair. After elaborating on the details of this dark moment for what must have been nearly 10 minutes, he said, “So, they are the same, to make you into the image of Christ.”

Dr. Howard paused again, but this time the silence weighed on every soul in the room. Every class, we all saw the pain he endured: the white knuckles clasped together on the table as he calmly lectured from his wheelchair, the single bead of sweat that would sometimes appear towards the end of class, or the veins on his temples, which became more visible as class went on. His answer, while simple, contained a depth of understanding that, like children trying to understand something second knowledge to their father, was something we could barely grasp, though we knew it to be true.

As we waited for him to continue the lecture, my friend turned around and whispered, “Bro, he answered your question!”

Many of us had great hopes and dreams that we believed we would attain, but we failed to consider that God may call someone else to bear the cross of success for the benefit that we will reap from the cross of failure. To be sure, both are crosses: one tempts you to self-reliance and rejection of God, while the other tempts us to despair and anger with God. But both can be redeemed for the glory of God, which is the whole point of our vaporous lives.

Whether we are writers, athletes, soldiers, politicians, physicians, philosophers, theologians, engineers, or whatever our occupation, we must offer up both our successes and failures for the glory of God. For the Christian, our prayer is this: that in the light of our wins and the blindness of our losses, we would be mirrors who reflect the Light of the World to those in the darkness. That is when this light pierces the darkness, they would see our bearing of the cross and glorify God.

All for the Glory of God!

— DR