Various Forms

I have just been thinking about the various ways that God reveals his glory and grace and I’ve realized (I think I already KNEW but failed to deeply BELIEVE) how indefinable and imperceptible his methods are; and yet, we still see his glory and grace everywhere and all the time. Many times I put standards on people (and myself) that attempt to define how and to what extent God can reveal His glory and grace through them – which is, in turn, putting limits on Him. So I’ve been reading some various books and here are some quotes that are important when considering the methods God might choose to reveal his grace and glory, as they pertain to individuals:

((Keep in mind that this is from the point of view of the Devil, so his notions are inverted – the Enemy for him is God for us))
“Of course I know that the Enemy also wants to detach men from themselves, but in a different way. Remember always, that He really likes the little vermin, and sets an absurd value on the distinctness of every one of them. When He talks of their losing their selves, He only means abandoning the clamour of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves than ever. Hence, while He is delighted to see them sacrificing even their innocent wills to His, He hates to see them drifting away from their own nature for any other reason. And we should always encourage them to do so. The deepest likings and impulses of any man are the raw material, the starting point, with which the Enemy has furnished him” (C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters 65).

“We are separate people with separate identity, and we must not be conformed into someone else’s wishes that may conflict with what God has designed for us. We must own what is our true self, and develop it with God’s grace and truth” (Dr. Henry Cloud, Changes that Heal 124).

“When we do not acknowledge our desires, we cut ourselves off from who we are, and we limit our future satisfaction, our future service to God and others, our motivation, and our sanctification. God uses our desires to fulfill his purposes, as well as to satisfy himself as a giver…Only when we admit our desires can God work with us to meet them, delay them, give them up, or whatever would be helpful. But we have to own up to them before he can do something with them.” (Dr. Henry Cloud, Changes that Heal 125).
((I would have to add that God can do with our desires what he wills, regardless of whether or not we own them BUT owning our desires and giving them to God is very humbling and pleasing to Him – AND the ability to own our desires and to give them to Him is a gift bestowed by His grace!))

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.”
1Peter 4:10

So I think the moral of the story is: God created everyone with incredibly unique gifts/desires/talents and God is using them and will use them for eternity!!! So I have to quit looking for the glory and judging and begin to BELIEVE IN THE GLORY AND GRACE THAT ALREADY EXISTS and WILL BE REVEALED THROUGH THE BODY OF CHRIST IN VARIOUS (incomprehensible) FORMS.