His Glory, not ours

"You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength into your holy abode." Exodus 15:13

To just fill you in on back story some, Moses is praising God right here. In Exodus 14 God commands Moses to raise his staff over the Red Sea, telling Moses to stop whining and to lead the Israelites across the Red Sea- on dry ground. These next verses are a tad lengthy and pretty deep, but hang with me I'm getting to the climax:

And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.
The LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all of his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen."
Exodus 14:13-18 - emphasis added.

Just a quick reminder about the Moses we saw only ten chapters earlier- Moses is not a natural leader, or an eloquent speaker. He bluntly questioned God's call to go to Egypt, making excuses and dodging his calling. And yet he is one of the greatest biblical leaders in history, God uses him to lead millions of Israelites away from what had been their home for 430 years (Ex 12:40).

The point of all this context is that God uses inadequate, sinful people for HIS GLORY! So when we walk seeking the will of God, we can't go wrong. Because each circumstance, success, and failure, can ultimately be used for the glory of God. When we start to believe we can do anything without him, we quickly fall on our faces because we are ultimately here to bring Him glory. Make it your daily prayer and ultimate goal to glorify God in all you say and do, and only then will you find true success. Christ took care of our sin on the cross, and now all we are to do is glorify him with our redeemed lives. Note that God is not only a loving God, but literally love incarnate. I'm not going to give you the "God is love" speech, because not only is he love, but he is also just. Notice that this passage works out great for the Israelites, but remember that tons of Egyptians swallowed way too much sea water.

A final thought; in 2 Corinthians 12 Paul writes-

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

(vs 9-10)

 That in our weakness, Christ may be glorified.

Amber