Seeking the Father’s Glory
By Donna Johnson on October 19th, 2017
Deep in the heart of every human is a longing to have relationship with the Creator. A desire to know Him and be known by Him. Most often this desire is mistaken for a restless emptiness and is therefore filled with whatever will satisfy us in the moment. When we recognize our need for God, and we begin to seek after Him we find that He is the only true satisfaction in this life. Donna Johnson, a member of Living Hope Church, has found this truth for herself. In seeking the Father’s glory she has opened the door for a deep and continuous craving in her heart that can only be filled with the One who is worthy of it all.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.” When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments. (Exodus 33:1-4 NIV)
As I read Exodus 33, I can’t help but feel everyone’s immediate distress that God would not be going with them along their journey. What seemed to be a great blessing (the protection of an angel going ahead of them, having the land cleared of those who would oppose them, plus the promise of provision and prosperity) was marred by the knowledge that God’s presence would not be with them also.
The people’s anxiety over God’s words to Moses became evident in verses 6-8 when they removed all of their ‘ornaments’ in repentance. Not only were they sad and in mourning, they also became desperate. Verse 8 says that
“whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise (wake up early) AND stand, each at his tent door, AND look at Moses until he entered the tent.”
Verses 9 and 10 goes on to say that WHILE Moses was in the tent speaking to God, the people would still be at their tent doors watching and when God’s cloud appeared, they began to worship. Isn’t it funny how zealous we become when we know we’ve sinned against God or when we are in need? We suddenly ‘find’ the time to pray, reading our Bible is no longer boring and going to church isn’t a mind-numbing chore. We cry out to God and sometimes we even try to negotiate our way to forgiveness (Lord, if You would… then I will…).
I know this may sound a bit crazy, but I love those moments of desperation because they always draw me closer to God. If it had not been for those moments in my life, I probably wouldn’t know that God is always present and how much I really need Him as my Savior. I believe Moses felt the same. At this point in his life, with all that he had been through, he knew who God was, His power and how much he needed His presence to walk through this life. Yet, Moses wanted more.
In verses 12-18, Moses made his petition before God. He said, “Now therefore, I pray you, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways so that I may know You [becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, recognizing and understanding Your ways more clearly] and that I may find grace and favor in Your sight.” (Ex. 33:13 Amplified Version). There is so much in this one statement that makes my heart do a somersault. I could feel Moses’ passion for God’s presence and I love how God responded. In verse 14 He simply said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Moses made his petition and God answered in his favor. Yet, even with God’s response, Moses still wanted more. He said in verse 14, “If Your presence does not go [with me], do not lead us up from here.” In other words, ‘Lord, I don’t care if this is the land You promised to my father’s father’s father. I don’t care that You made the way and removed any potential enemies from the land. I don’t even care if this land comes with the promise of milk and honey. If You don’t go, I don’t want to go!’ Moses had a thirst for more of God’s presence that could not be quenched by any natural means. God again responded to Moses by saying “I will also do this thing that you have asked; for you have found favor (loving-kindness, mercy) in My sight and I have known you [personally] by name.” (Verse 17). But Moses didn’t stop there! Even though God had already agreed to a restored relationship with His people, Moses had one more personal request. He says, “Please, show me Your glory!”
This was not Moses begging for God to make a physical appearance, after all God was already visible as a cloud and he spoke with Him face to face (one on one, audibly). I believe what Moses desired was a deeper revelation of the very essence (character, attributes) of who God is. He wanted to press in.
My desire is to be surrounded by others who would dare to dig deep into God’s presence. Those who are crazy hungry and thirsty for that intimacy with Christ. What about you? Can you say right now that you are passionate about God’s presence? Can you say that you spend quality time with Him? Are you spending more time asking for material things than asking for God to reveal Himself you? Are you persistent in prayer for God to reveal Himself? If not, then you… are… missing… something! Until, you delve into who God is and passionately pursue His presence, you will never know the fullness, freedom and peace that comes with knowing Him!
Today, this is my prayer for you. That God would give you that hunger and thirst for His presence. That He would reveal Himself to you. That He would show us His glory. I pray that we would live life chasing after the things of God. See, when you really know who God is, all the other things of this life become less important. When you focus on Christ, you will find that some of the things that were once a stumbling block, are now stepping stones raising you to another level. All we have to do is ask. God tells us in Revelation 3:20 that He is standing at the door knocking. It says that He is waiting for us to hear His call, open the door and invite Him in. God desires a deeper level of intimacy with us but He will not force it on us. He just wants to be invited in. So the question I will leave you with today is will you let Him in? I pray it will be so.
Blessings,
Donna Johnson
