Seeing God’s Greatness Through Troubled Waters

The following devotional is taken from Charles Spurgeon’s Morning By Morning. It reminds us that often the only way we can truly appreciate the greatness of God is as we behold Him in the tempests of life.

"The Lord our God has shown us His glory."—Deuteronomy 5.24.

“God’s great design in all His works is the manifestation of His own glory, and any goal less than this would have been unworthy of Him. But how is the glory of God to be manifested in such fallen creatures as we are? Man's eyes are not single-focused, for we continually have a view toward our own glory and too high an estimate of our own power; thus we are not qualified to behold the glory of the Lord. Therefore it is obvious we must step out of the way to make room for God to be exalted. This is the very reason He often brings His people into difficulties and trials, which He then uses to make them conscious of their own foolishness and weakness so they may be able to behold the majesty of God when He comes to deliver them.
Someone whose life is nothing but a smooth and easy path will see very little of the glory of the Lord, for he will have few opportunities for self-emptying and, as a result, will be unfit for being filled with the revelation of God. They who only navigate narrow streams and shallow creeks, know little of the God of storms, but they who are “merchants on the mighty waters" see “His wonderful deeds in the deep" (Psalm 107.23-24). Among the huge Atlantic-waves of bereavement, poverty, temptation, and reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah, because we sense the smallness of mankind.
Therefore, thank God if your road has been rough, for this is what has given you the experience of God's greatness and loving-kindness. Your troubles have enriched you with a wealth of knowledge not gained in any other way, for your trials have been the “cleft of the rock” where Jehovah has put you, just as He did His servant Moses, that you too might behold His glory as it “passes by” (Exodus 33.22).
Praise God that you have not been left in the darkness and ignorance that continuing prosperity may have brought you. Instead, through the great “furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48.10) you have been given the capacity to behold the shining of His glory in His wonderful dealings with you.”*
May we cherish the opportunity to see the work and presence of the Lord more than we relish the comfort of having a trouble-free life.
* Look Unto Me: The Devotions of Charles Spurgeon. Zondervan (October 7, 2008). p. 201.