The Well
The Well |
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Connecting Hope to the Hurting | |
Wednesday
March 5, 2008
Then Moses had one more request. "Please let me see your glorious presence,"
he said.
The Lord replied, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and
I will call out my name, 'the Lord,' to you. I will show kindness to anyone I
choose, and I will show mercy to anyone I choose. But you may not look directly
at my face, for no one may see me and live." The Lord continued, "Stand here on
this rock beside me. As my glorious presence passes by, I will put you in the
cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed. Then I will
remove my hand, and you will see me from behind. But my face will not be seen."
Exodus 33:18-23
Being around negative people can definitely bring out the negativity in us. Although Moses genuinely wanted to experience the glory of God for another reason, I am sure he also just needed a major jolt of glory because negative attitudes were everywhere.
Well, God honored Moses' request. Can you imagine all of the goodness of God passing before you? I can't. I have to be honest and tell you that I'm not sure my heart could take it! The goodness of God is overwhelming.
Several months ago, when going through a really rough time, I felt that I would never again know the peace of God. I mean the waters were raging and I was being attacked left and right. Reminders were everywhere that I just wasn't good enough to be doing what I do. Well, today's words from the Lord give us an antidote to those accusations. God will definitely show kindness and mercy to whomever He pleases and it pleased Him to embrace me with both.
In order to get where we are going with God, in order to experience His glory, He will often put us in the cleft of a rock until He passes by. Not long ago I shared that someone prophesied that God had placed me in the cleft of a rock and that He would soon bring me out. She was right.
Anytime God places us in the cleft of a rock, in a hiding place so to speak, we will often feel forsaken because it gets dark. Yet, we must remember that it is dark because His hand is covering us. Is that awesome?
God presents Himself to us in clouds of glory — storms, in the cleft of a rock — times of feeling alone, and then He removes the covering of His hand to free us for service. He is awesome in all of His ways.
Father, thank You so much for covering us and hiding us so we can be in a safe place to experience Your Presence. We thank You for our journey through the book of Exodus, we've learned a lot. Now, guide us as we begin a new journey tomorrow.
