From Glory To Glory

I've not only heard the phrase, "If it's not one thing, it's another!",  I've declared it many times. The saying is like a curse; a training of the brain to look for and expect bad things. But as I've contemplated it, I've decided the adage is biblical.

2 Corinthians 3:18 says:

 Now all of us, with our faces unveiled, reflect the glory of the Lord as if we are mirrors; and so we are being transformed, metamorphosed, into His same image from one radiance of glory to another, just as the Spirit of the Lord accomplishes it.

• If it's not one thing...it's another
• If it's not the Old Covenant (law)....it's the New Covenant (grace!) 
• If it's not death... it's life
• If it's not dark....it's light.
• If it's not ashes...it's beauty (Isaiah 61:3)

God loves restoring and transforming from glory to glory!  It's a process of being transformed, growing in the knowledge of God, growing in relationship with God from an acquaintance, to a deep intimacy, to finally one day seeing Him face to face.  

I'm reminded of the story of Enoch.  We are told in Genesis 5:22-24 that "Enoch walked with God, and was not".  Hebrews 11:5 says "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him.  Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God".  Enoch lived life well.  Now, this obviously isn't in the Bible, but here's how I imagine it happening:  Enoch walked with God each day learning to know Him in new and exciting ways, choosing to  please God, reflecting His glory.  Then one day God came to Enoch and said something like, "Enoch, you've been transformed so much, gotten to know my character so intimately, that the only thing left is to come see me face to face!"  From glory to glory. From one epiphany to the next. 

Instead of looking for the next bad thing to happen, it's time to train ourselves to look for God's goodness and then mirror it. We should be asking the Holy Spirit to teach us, allowing Him to transform us into a reflection of Him:  from one radiance of glory to another.    "If it's not one thing, it's another!" that may become one of my favorite declarations.