How do you bring glory to God? Is it through your worship on Sunday mornings or the time you spend in the Word during the week? The answer would certainly be, "Yes." But are there other times and ways to give God glory? And are they always associated with those moments in time when we are doing well and our God appears to be nothing but good? The Bible would seem to indicate that God gets glory in the good times and the bad times. It all depends on how we view those moments and whether we see God's hand in them. Today, as we look at John 13, we will hear Jesus declare that all that is about to happen to Him is going to bring glory to His Father. And He is not just speaking of His coming resurrection. There was a betrayal that had to happen first. There was the denial by Peter and the desertion of the other disciples. There would be a series of trials, accompanied by beatings, false accusations, ridicule and mockery. There would be a grueling and painful crucifixion where His body would suffer greatly and the pain would be unbearable. Then there would be death. And Jesus says that all of it, yes, all of it, will bring God glory. And yet, we have a hard time accepting the difficulties that head our way in life. We somehow believe they are anomalies that are to be avoided at all costs. But what if we saw them as a means of bringing God glory? Just like Jesus did.
