Glory to Glory

The past several weeks have been such a whirlwind of grace upon grace! I tried to make a post before school started, but I got swept into preparing and soaking it all in. It’s now almost two weeks into school, and already so much has happened. The Lord has moved so mightily in me at an accelerated pace, preparing me more and more to hit the ground running in the place He has called me to next.

John 21:25 (NKJV) And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

I have seen this comment John made about Jesus really come alive, not only in the past couple of weeks, but throughout my time here in Nepal. Jesus has done so much in and around me that I don’t think I could write or explain them all if I tried. It is so easy to think, “Surely there can’t be much more to be done.” This is so far from the truth!

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV) But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

From glory to glory- even at a place of glory, there is another place to be transformed to. This inspires so much hope in me that not only will we never run out of places to grow, but the Holy Spirit will never stop working this growth in us as long as we set our gaze upon the Lord. This is not limited to any kind of person. It is not reserved for full-time ministry or missions or “super-Christians” (there is no such thing). Every believer has the same Holy Spirit moving in them, has access to the same life full of grace upon grace, glory to glory, abundance of the blessing of oneness with God.

It has been amazing seeing the intentionality of the Lord through my experiences here. We are split into teams of students, and the team I am on is such a beautiful blend of personalities and giftings. I so enjoy watching the Holy Spirit move between and through us as we go on outreaches. There have been so many moments where one of us hears or feels something from the Holy Spirit and another confirms it from their own feeling or hearing; also times when we encounter people at such a specific moment resulting from multiple things falling into place without us knowing.

Every day people encounter the Lord. Everyday I learn more about what it means not only to be a missionary, but a believer, a daughter of God, a disciple of Jesus, a light to a dark world. I pray you see and hear the truth of what is in my heart. I am just a servant, a tool in the hand of the Master Builder, clay in the hands of the Potter.

In Ezekiel 47, Ezekiel writes about a river he was taken to by an angel. This river brought fruitfulness to the trees planted on its banks, and abundance of fish to the sea that it flows into. In this experience, Ezekiel walks into the river up to his waist, and notes that in order to cross he would have to swim. I think this river is a good symbol for a way we can approach prayer and life in general with God. We can try to stay in the shallow where we can stand and maintain some kind of control, or we can dive in over our heads, trusting in His goodness and faithfulness.

This is my prayer for myself and for you: that we both would release the need to control and to understand everything, and that we would settle into the current of God’s will for our lives. It sometimes looks chaotic or downright crazy, but the Holy Spirit knows what He’s doing when He gives us a word or feeling to do something. We will never know until we step out in faith and obey. I am confident the result will not only be your own life changed, but lives of people around you.