Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” Exodus 33:18 ESV
Read Exodus 33.
Is it possible to be satisfied and hungry at the same time? It seems that the more I experience of the presence and the goodness of the Lord, the more I long for Him. He satisfies my deepest yearnings, and yet, He makes me hunger for more. Have you ever experienced that?
When we have had a genuine encounter with the Lord, we want nothing more than to share it with others. When someone accepts Christ as their Savior and Lord, our hearts are elated! What a glorious reason to celebrate! There is nothing better! Or, is there?
Too often, we act as if this is the end. They have accomplished the highest spiritual goal, and they are IN! They have eternal life, and we can rest easy that we have ushered another sinner into the Kingdom.
But, is it really the end? Or, is it only the beginning?
When we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord, we are adopted into the family of God. We are God’s sons and daughters, and we are brothers and sisters of Christ.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:14-17 ESV
Therefore, when we are adopted into the family of God, the relationship is only beginning. Being saved, redeemed, justified, and all those fancy theological words that are used to explain our salvation, are all about becoming followers of Christ who continue to seek Him, worship Him, serve Him, and submit to His Lordship. It isn’t about saying a one-time prayer so that we will merely be saved from hell, and that is the end of it. Salvation sparks the beginning of the most amazing and wonderful relationship with the God of the Universe!
I have learned that the more we week Him, the more we are satisfied in Him, yet, the more we also crave His presence. It’s like having your cake and eating it too. We have Him, and He meets the deepest longings of our souls, yet, we also continue to seek more of Him because we continue to develop an insatiable hunger and thirst for Him.
It is sad that we are sometimes taught to settle for a mere taste, to be content with an introduction to His presence, but then to never experience the ongoing intimacy that grows through the ages in our walk with God. Well, I want more! How about you?
I believe we are created with an emptiness within that can only be filled by God’s Spirit so that we would seek Him. Even Christians tend to seek for fulfillment in lesser things to fill that void, but these worthless idols will never satisfy. What is so cool is that we never seek God without His seeking us first. It is His Spirit that draws us and gives us the desire to seek more of Him. He draws first, and then we must respond to that inner longing. He, in turn, responds with more of His presence, and then draws us even deeper. It is a magnificent ebb and flow of His Spirit in our lives, and that is how He intends for us to live in relationship with Him.
In our Scripture today, Moses had walked intimately with God, and yet, he still longed to see God’s glory. He uttered the prayer that is also upon my heart, “Lord, show me your glory.”
Show me your glory! Show me your glory! Show me your glory! Show me your glory! Show me your glory!
I cannot be satisfied with mere routine. I cannot settle for a one-time prayer and then attempting this life on my own. I don’t want to simply go through the motions without engaging my heart. Even when I do daily Bible study, I don’t want to just know about God, but I want to know God! That was Paul’s highest ambition.
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord… Philippians 3:8a ESV
In Exodus 33, Moses had just had a conversation about God going with them as they travel to the Promised Land. God had been so frustrated with the “stiff-necked” people of Israel, that He was ready to destroy them. However, Moses interceded for the people, and it was on his behalf that God relented.
In the Tent of Meeting, Moses met regularly with God, and the cloud of His glory would sit at the entrance of the tent. The people would watch and worship the Lord. I especially love verse 11, and this is what I want more than anything!
Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Exodus 33:11a ESV
After Moses had interceded for the people, he asked God one request, and that was for God to show him His glory. However, this was more than Moses’ physical body would be able to handle. No one can see the face of God and live. However, God hid Moses in a crevice of a rock and allowed His glory to pass over. Moses would then be allowed to see God’s shadow and His back, but He could not look directly on the face of God.
May we never take the holiness of God lightly or lose our awe of God Almighty. We tend to look at Him as our friend, and He is, but He is not just a casual friend to us. We can’t forget that He is also God Most High. His glory fills the earth, and we are incapable of seeing His face directly in our human form. May we bow before Him and tremble at His worth!
What is amazing to me is that even in all His glory, God still seeks intimacy with us. He loves us above all the rest of creation. Let us not be consumed with guilt or condemnation as we recognize our neglect of spiritual growth or the lack of investment in our relationship with God. Rather, let us seek Him fresh and new right now. Let us receive His grace and grasp His infinite love for us. May we bow before Him and seek Him with every fiber of our being. Just like Moses, let us seek the glory of God and allow Him to reveal Himself to us. He has promised in Jeremiah that we WILL find Him when we seek Him with all our hearts!
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 ESV
