JUNE 25, 2025

  “The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. That's the essence of it.” 

― Vince Lombardi Jr.

JOB 4-6

1Then Job replied:

2“If only my grief could be weighed

and placed with my calamity on the scales.

3For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas—

no wonder my words have been rash.

4For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me;

my spirit drinks in their poison;

the terrors of God are arrayed against me.(6:1-4)

ACTS 7:20-43

20At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of God.e For three months he was nurtured in his father’s house. 21When he was set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

JOURNAL 

In Job 6:1–4, Job’s anguish is almost too much to bear. He cries out, “If only my grief could be weighed... it would outweigh the sand of the seas... the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me.” These are the words of a man crushed not by his failures, but by his faithfulness in the face of relentless trial. Job hasn’t sinned, and yet he suffers deeply—proof that righteousness does not insulate us from pain.

Similarly, in Acts 7:20–43, we see Moses, “beautiful in the sight of God,” raised with privilege and education, and yet misunderstood and rejected by his own people. He is prepared by God for a mission that will lead him through rejection, wilderness, and hardship before deliverance is ever seen.

Both men, like Stephen later in this chapter, show that doing what is right in God’s eyes often leads directly into adversity. Stephen, full of wisdom and the Spirit, will be stoned. Job will be stripped of everything. Moses will flee into exile. None of them are in trouble because they disobeyed. Rather, their suffering is the soil from which their testimony grows.

What does this say to me?

It reminds me that trusting and obeying God isn’t a strategy for ease or applause. It’s a path marked by surrender, mystery, and sometimes pain. True success, then, cannot be measured by comfort or status. It is not defined by outcomes, but by obedience. I am called to be an Outpost of the Kingdom - a living, breathing representative of heaven in this broken world.

As Romans 12:1–2 urges, I am to offer my body “as a living sacrifice... holy and pleasing to God,” refusing to conform to the world’s measurements of worth and instead being “transformed by the renewing of my mind.” My worship is not only what I sing but how I live - with courage, with persistence, with purpose.

That means I must let go of the craving for human validation. I must release the need to control outcomes. Glory isn’t found in accolades. It’s found in getting back up when the weight of life has driven me to my knees - still trusting, still loving, still moving forward.

This kind of life, rooted in identity rather than insecurity, is one of joyful action. It stretches me, demands something deeper. It calls forth my gifts and demands my discipline. It’s not passive or self-protective. It’s sacrificial, intentional, and alive.

Even in moments of disappointment, when applause is absent and progress feels hidden, I must remember: I might be exactly where God wants me. My identity is never determined by my circumstances. Instead, my circumstances become the canvas upon which God paints the expression of who I truly am.

So today, I choose again to live as an outpost. To live from my identity, not for it. To honor God not with results, but with surrender. That is where real glory is found.

1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

ROMANS 12:1-2