2021: THE YEAR OF GOD’S GLORY

In Isaiah 60:1-2, the prophet Isaiah wrote about a revelation God gave him where he saw darkness covering the earth, darkness covering people. The darkness Isaiah saw was not a physical or natural darkness like the kind we see when night comes. It was a spiritual darkness. In the midst of this thick darkness, Isaiah saw a light and glory coming to separate certain people from the darkness all around. Though the name Jesus isn’t mentioned in these verses, Jesus is in fact the light and glory Isaiah saw which came to separate believers from the darkness in the earth. Hebrews 1:3 tells us that the Son is the radiance of God’s glory. Jesus Christ perfectly mirrors, expresses and reveals the glory of God. When you have Jesus in you and with you, you have the glory of God. When God’s glory is in you and covers you, God will separate you from darkness. Whatever darkness comes with 2021, whether it is the darkness of sin, the darkness of a pandemic or epidemic, or the darkness of famine and recession, as you walk with the Lord Jesus this year, the glory of God will separate you from all forms of darkness.

It’s a great thing to have the glory of God in your life. However, there is a pain to endure, a suffering to undergo to experience the glory of God. Romans 8:18 tells us of a suffering that comes before the glory of God. Jesus went through His own share of suffering before He experienced the glory of God. Hebrews 12:2 tells us that for the joy; for the glory that was set before Him, Jesus endured the pain and suffering of being rejected, humiliated and insulted, Jesus went through the pain of dying on the cross, before He entered into glory.

In John 9:1-12, Jesus healed a man who was born blind. In verse 3, Jesus said the pain and suffering of blindness this man had been through was not because the man or his parents sinned, but it was for the works of God; the glory of God to be made manifest. In 2021, when you see pain, suffering, trials, problems and challenges, don’t give room to fretting and panicking which only leads to rash decisions, don’t compromise your faith to get out of the problem, and don’t give up. There is a glory to be revealed in your life after the pain, after the problem, if you endure, keep the faith and hold on to God.

God doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to changing people’s lives, giving people testimonies, and manifesting His glory. God has different ways of moving people from glory to glory. In the Bible, we see how Jesus healed blindness in different ways (John 9:6-7, Matthew 9:27-30, Mark 8:22-26). In 2021, don’t put God in a box. Don’t get fixated on how changes or blessings are coming to a particular person that you want your own life to follow that same pattern or style. God’s plan, style and timing is different for each person. If the man in John 9:6-7, had complained that he wasn’t comfortable with Jesus spitting on the ground, mixing mud and saliva and then rubbing it on his eyes, the blind man would not have received his miracle. He allowed Jesus have His way. In 2021, allow Jesus have His way in you, allow Him do what He wants to do in His own way. To see the glory of God in 2021, you have to be open to new things, new ideas, new opportunities, new visions and styles. Even if you aren’t comfortable or familiar with them, as long as they don’t contradict or violate the Word and principles of God, be open to the new move of God.

You need divine attention to experience the glory of God. John 9:1, tells us that it was as Jesus was passing by that He noticed the man that was born blind. Divine attention was the starting point to the change in the blind man’s life. Divine attention was what brought Him under God’s healing touch. Divine attention led to the glory and works of God being revealed in His life. Jesus will be passing by in 2021. May He not pass us by this year so that 2021 can indeed be our year of the glory of God.

PHOTO CREDIT: Eberhard Grossgasteiger on Unspalsh