How Heavy is it? By Lisa Burkhardt Worley, D.Min.
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
(1 Chronicles 16:24)
I am in the middle of a research project about God’s glory, something I have been curious about for a few years. I believe we use the term “glory” loosely, but I am not sure we actually know what it means when we speak of God’s glory. I want to glorify the LORD. Let’s give God all the glory. Show me your glory!
The Hebrew word for “glory” is “kabod,” which means weight, heaviness, or significance. So, this is why we sometimes see worship leaders or congregants fall to their knees during a service—often it’s because they have felt God’s glory and the weight has literally pushed them down.
The late evangelist Smith Wigglesworth was preaching in Wellington, New Zealand, and asked eleven leaders to attend a special prayer meeting. When the leaders prayed, the glory of God filled the room. However, the glory, light, and heat became so intense that the eleven men had to leave the room. Wigglesworth was the only one who remained and met with God.
At the next leaders’ prayer meeting, when Wigglesworth worshipped and prayed, the glory of God enveloped the room again. The weight was so heavy that once again, all of the men abandoned the meeting. Even Wigglesworth, after getting caught up in the holy fire, could not stand it anymore and had to race out.[1]
Have you ever felt the weightiness of God’s glory?
I have never had to leave a room because the glory was too much to handle, but I would love to have that experience. Some prerequisites include a total surrender of one’s life to God, a sacrifice of one’s desires for the LORD’s desires, and a godly lifestyle. We also have to enter the presence of God through worship and prayer.
We can ask for God’s glory to fill a sanctuary. Remember in Exodus 33, God’s glory did not randomly appear. Moses asked to see it, and because God said, “But you may not see the glory of my face, for man may not see me and live,” Moses had to hide in the cleft of a rock.
This type of intimacy with our heavenly Father is not easily experienced by even the most mature believers. But we still need to desire to feel the weight of His glory.
If your faith seems to be on life support, strengthen your spiritual muscles and ask God to fill the room with his glory. The weightiness may knock you down, but there is no better place to be than in the presence of Almighty God.
[1] Todd, Smith, God’s Glory: Becoming a Resting Place for the Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit, (Shippensburg: Destiny Image), 2020.