glory

One Another Ministry
Encouragement Story

THE POWER AND THE GLORY

I have to wonder how many of us really hear those words - Power and Glory.

The dictionary says power can mean strength, ability, control, authority, a special kind of ability, energy or force and
that glory can mean great honor, praise, something beautiful or deserving praise.

Having read the dictionary’s definition of these two words, how can anyone not attribute them to our Father in
Heaven? Who else do we know that has all the strengths, so to speak, but Him?

Just think about it, if He knows us before we are born of our earthly parents, or caregivers, who has the ability to
direct our footsteps, thoughts, successes and failures? We all seem to think that it is ourselves, who do this, and
maybe it is, but His input is there, we just don’t always want to admit it! We like to think that we are in full control of
what we do and who we are. If we are honest with ourselves, we know that the final result is His. We live by His
authority and we also know that without His special ability, energy or force, we by ourselves are powerless.

Isn’t that the most amazing and wonderful thing? If it were not for Him, and His giving of His only Son, you and I
would never stand a chance of getting into Heaven, let alone meeting Him in person and being able to sit, walk, talk,
laugh, sing and cry with Him! Somehow I don’t think there will be too much crying going on, not out of sadness
anyway.

Not something thought about in our daily lives, at least it wasn’t in mine. Like many others, I didn’t think about how I
was living my life compared to how He wanted me to live it. Quitting the bad language wasn’t a biggie, gossiping is
still a tough one at times, speaking negatively is another hard one, forgiveness I hope to get a handle on one day
and being proud… oh my goodness, how I struggle with that!! I seem to have such a problem with letting others see
that I need help. Realizing and accepting that I am not strong like I always believed is a hard pill for me to swallow!!
You have no idea how hard!

Letting your child see you weak, sick and scared is not a nice place to go. After all, are you not the “strong” one, the
one in control, the one children are suppose to admire, respect and look up to? Many can say that they do have
their children’s respect and admiration and many others can’t. But that is because we all have choices and
sometimes we make the wrong ones. Can’t do anything about those errors except look back on them and see where
and how we went wrong. So much for us being in control!

Becoming iIl and getting the news that no one wants, has got to be the loneliest place in the world to be. Even
knowing that God is with you, or thinking that you know, does not take away the fear. If asked what you are afraid of,
you can’t give an answer because you don’t really know. Is it the thought of dying and leaving your family, maybe it’s
the pain from the disease you have, or maybe it’s regret because you never did get to do all the things you wanted
to. Perhaps you haven’t made amends, or told your children that you love them often enough, or hugged them
enough, or lived each day to its fullest. We think we do the best that we can but is that the truth or what we want to
believe? Will My Father God like me when He meets me? Will I ever get to like myself?

Seven little words that say so much. An awful lot of forgiving has to take place in order for the liking of one’s self to
come about. How on earth can you even begin to like yourself when you know that He knows every single thing that
you have done, each word you’ve spoken in anger, pain and untruth and that only scratches the surface. How is it
possible to ever forgive so much??

And then something happens that puts everything into a different light. Something so powerful that you want
everyone to experience it but very few ever will. You receive something from God that is so totally unexpected and
you believe, undeserved, that it takes a while to sink in. When you do accept and understand what happened, you
know that not everyone will believe you and he or she certainly won’t understand. You don’t understand yourself
why anyone would come to you because you are no one. But you have spent hours in prayer asking Him to let you
feel His presence, not heal you; just let you feel His presence. And He does! Oh my goodness, He does. Then you
really think you are losing your mind because you can see and feel Him but those around you can’t. You feel Him sit
on your hospital bed beside you or on the stretcher taking you in for a test or surgery. You feel a breeze in a room
that has no way of getting a breeze into it but you feel it! You shake someone’s hand and something flows from that
hand to you and you know that it can only be one thing. THE POWER AND THE GLORY!! It is so humbling, so soft
and gentle, so peaceful and pure, so profound that you want everyone you know to experience it. You think about it
and can still just say oh my! He came to me and He touched me. He loves me no matter what. He is always with me.

So after you have cleaned house, got things organized, made arrangements etc., wanting of course, to leave things
in order so it will be easier when your time comes to leave, for your child or children to deal with things, what do you
do? By this time you are already looking at the world and each new day differently than you did before, living each
day to the fullest or trying to at least. Hey, you’re only human and we humans tend to trip and fall, even those we
least expect to! The sun seems brighter, the birds sing louder and more beautifully, the sky is bluer, the grass
greener, the flowers prettier, your children more precious and grandchildren even more so. You yourself have been
given, so to speak, a new lease on life. What are you going to do with it?? Learn from it what it is that He wants you
to, or maybe He wants you to go somewhere, but you can’t figure out where. Maybe He just wants you to look at
yourself and love what you see. Maybe He just wants you to learn what grace is, other than something you say
before a meal!

Jo-Ann,
British Columbia, Canada