True glory

And so when my heart grew embittered
and when I was cut to the quick,
I was stupid and did not understand . . .
Yet I was always in your presence;
you were holding me by my right hand.
You will guide me by your counsel
and so you will lead me to glory.- from Ps 73

These words struck me this morning. When I am not spending regular time with God, considering his glory, basking in his love, it is easy for me to forget how I am blessed and to be overwhelmed by my burdens. Have I not demonstrated, over and over again, that my own strength is too puny for the challenges that I am going to face? I find the strength I need only in the Lord.

And yet I go weeks without setting aside time with you, Lord. I make time for the things that feel more important to me, and my soul grows weak, and I become embittered rather than thankful for your abundant, ever-present love.

God is man's glory. Man is the vessel which receives God's action and all his wisdom and power . . . If man, without being puffed up or boastful, has a right belief regarding created things and their divine Creator, who, having given them being, holds them all in his power, and if man perseveres in God's love, and in obedience and gratitude to him, he will receive greater glory from him. It will be a glory which will grow ever brighter until he takes on the likeness of the one who died for him.- from a treatise Against Heresies by St. Irenaeus, bishop

The degree to which I, fearful of how my desires might conflict with God's will for me - despite my good intentions to the contrary and even the reality that they do not - withdraw from God's presence so as to not risk whatever other thing I am idolizing in his place, I will find myself drifting and vulnerable. I may cling to my idol, which I will then have for myself, but it will bring me no joy or strength, and I will find myself drowning in the middle of the ocean.

It is only in seeking and entering into God's presence that I find the peace, strength, and joy that otherwise elude me.