Does a rose smell its own fragrance? Does an orange taste its own juice?
No, they are merely exposing their glory. The glory of the rose is in its fragrance. The glory of the orange is in its juice; But in order to fully expose their glory, they have to be crushed.
A rose smells fine on the bush, but if you really want to see its glory, you have to extract it from the bush. An orange smells okay on the tree, but if you really want to taste its glory, it has to be squeezed or crushed. Crushing releases the glory; And when the glory comes out, someone else benefits. The fragrance is not for the rose, neither is the juice for the orange. Their glory exists for others.
If you are feeling the weight of your environment, don’t despair. God will not let it destroy you. Instead, he will cause it to reveal you and to reveal your glory. Pressure does not make or break us, it reveals us; And God wants the world to see your glory. They will see His glory through you. Just as the heavens declare the glory of God, so too you will declare the glory of God.
Before you can have construction, sometimes you have to have destruction. As a citizen of the Kingdom and as a child of God, you need to be placed in an environment that encourages the release of your glory. God wants you to be a part of His plan to fill the earth with His glory. May you be a shining light to the people. When you become a part of God’s plan to fill the earth with His glory, you are going to grow. Growth is glory exposed.