He Will Not Share His Glory with Another

This month has been challenging to find the memory verses that I think will perfectly fit where I am.  Both verses this month took me a while to find.  Alas, only a few days late, I have come up with what I want my heart to rest in for the remainder of March.

"I am doing this so all that see this miracle will understand what it means-that it is the Lord who has done this, the Holy One of Israel who created it." -Isaiah 41:20 NLT

To be truthful, I actually wanted to memorize verses 17-20 in Isaiah 41, but I thought that could be a bit aggressive for my tired brain.  As I studied this section of Isaiah a few weeks ago, these verses stood out to me like God was speaking them Himself right to me.


" ¹⁷ The poor and needy search for water,
   but there is none;
   their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the LORD will answer them;
   I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
¹⁸ I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
   and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
   and the parched ground into springs.
¹⁹ I will put in the desert
   the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers in the wasteland,
   the fir and the cypress together,
²⁰ so that people may see and know,
   may consider and understand,
that the hand of the LORD has done this,
   that the Holy One of Israel has created it."
-Isaiah 41:17-20 NIV

To say that 2011 has been a year where our family has been parched is an understatement.  At times I have felt like we are living in the driest of deserts.  So to come upon this promise in Isaiah where God promises His chosen  and dearly loved people of Israel, people He has allowed to be in captivity, that he will once again make "rivers flow on barren heights and springs within the valleys" and then continues to tell of the lush vegetation-vegetation that has no business being the desert-that will be found there.  Well, I can't help but feel loved, looked after, cared for, and seen.

Yes, God allows times in the desert. Times of hardship, times of struggle, times of suffering.  They aren't fun, but they are necessary.  These are times in which we are refined.  As much as I like to think that I practice what I preach, and that my heart truly believes what my head knows, well, that would be a lie.  And like any good parent, any loving parent, God cannot stand to watch me wallow around in my own mess for too long.   While our time in the desert has not been fun, I feel as though it has been fruitful.  While the way things used to be seemed to be much easier or seemed good, they were not the best.  God wants our best.

So, while I (our family) may be in the desert, this promise tells me "But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them."  Once again we will see rivers, springs, and lush vegetation in this desert.  And why?  Why would God do all of this?  The key is in verse 20 (my memory verse) "so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it." or in the NLT "I am doing this so all that see this miracle will understand what it means-that it is the Lord who has done this, the Holy One of Israel who created it."  

It's for His glory.

Lord, may you and you alone receive the glory for the work you are doing in our lives.  May people see and know that it was You who has done all these things, and know that you are a God who loves, who rescues, who saves.  May we be small so you will be large. -Amen.