His Glory Appears

Today I sat on the top floor of the Educational Sciences building (which is conveniently located behind my house) and watched the sunset. It was an unplanned event on my part, but not on God's. The result of me attempting to do homework resulted in God deciding that I needed to spend at least a couple minutes with Him. I decided He was right. I put my quiet time music on shuffle and took out my Bible and journal. As Lifehouse's "Everything" came on, I started to remember a lot about my life. As many of you know, about 3 1/2 years ago, I gave my life to Christ at Fall Getaway while He captured my heart during a drama in which "Everything" was used. So many thoughts and memories came flooding back to me in that moment. I remember everything about it: who I was sitting next to, what I did before, what I did after, who the actors were, where in that gym I was sitting, even what I was wearing. It was the pivotal moment in my life when I truly heard the Creator say to me for the first time "I love you. I want you. Come to me."

I sat in Ed Sci and smiled because I knew that God wanted me to remember Him in a simple, but significant way. He wanted me to delight in the things that I delighted in when I first met Him, His love, His grace, His justice, His life, His glory, HIM. With Lifehouse still playing through my earbuds, I started to write in my journal about how great God is. Then the song reached its end and I heard the final lyrics:

"How can I stand here with You, and not be moved by You? Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?"

I thought to myself..."truly...what could be better this?! Jesus is with me right now. What could be better?" Then the next song on my shuffle started. "His Glory Appears" by Hillsong. The first verse talks about how Jesus died for us and gives us hope because of the cross. I was excited about Jesus. Oh, was I excited. Then I thought again, "how could this get better?" Then I looked at the sun, and right as the lyrics "And his glory appears like the light from the sun. Age to age...He shines" blared through my ears, sun rays appeared from behind very thin clouds. Can you imagine my joy and excitement in that moment? I can't explain in words what I felt. I can't explain how clearly I saw Jesus in the sun. I realized, I was seeing the smallest amount of glory that my human eyes could handle. I felt weak at the knees, head over heels, nervous and giddy all at the same time. I felt like God was physically present. Today was the closest I have ever been to seeing the glory of God to the extent that my human eyes allow me to. None of this experience was of me. I believe God wanted me to go to the top floor of Ed Sci, not do homework and then have an intimate experience with His love and His heart. His glory, His beauty, His radiance. As I watched the sunset over Madison with my eyes closed and the sun on my face, God reminded me that when I come before Him, I can bask in His glory and bask in Him.

God hears me. He knows me. He's everything. He desires me. He delights in me. He wants me to enjoy Him. He wants me to love Him. He wants me. Therefore, He shows me things. He is real. He is who He says He is. In His glory and in His majesty, He wants to love me and protect me. I am His child. Jesus is my King. He loves me. It is in His glory that I rest tonight.