Pre-conference Devotional March 9th
Devotional
When we think about the glory of God the story of Moses, Exodus 33 and 34 are good starting places for understanding. Read these chapters and you can get the full story of what I am summarizing here.
Looking back in Chapter 19 we see that Moses goes up to Mount Sinai. There God gives him the Ten Commandments along with the law. In Exodus 24:9-11 we are told that Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu along with the 70 elders of Israel saw the God of Israel. They even ate and drank with him.
Moses goes by himself further up the mountain where God gives him stone tablets with the law and commandments, written by God’s own finger. While he was on the mountain with God the people became impatient and at the instruction of Aaron they formed the golden calf and began worshipping it (Exodus 32.) Moses is so angry with the people that he throws down the stone tablets breaking them, burns the golden calf and makes the Israelites drink water mixed with the ashes of the calf.
Moses goes back to God and vents his frustrations with leading the people to God. God promises His Presence will go with him. Moses tells him that without His presence he cannot go and then he asks God something very bold. He asks for God to show him His glory. God goes on to tell him that he will hide him in the cleft of a rock and cover him until he passes by. Moses can see the back of God but cannot see him face to face. If he were to see him face to face he would not live.
After spending forty days and forty nights on the mountain with God, Moses comes down and his face is radiant. It was so radiant that he needed to put a veil over his face so that the people were not afraid to come near him. He was physically changed by being in the presence of the glory of God.
When I look at the story in Exodus and then Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 3:18, I am blown away. Paul states, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into the image of God with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Ever increasing glory. If God’s glory changed Moses it should also change us.
Over the last couple of months we have seen many changes that are creating anxiety in the lives of people throughout the world. In the midst of chaos it is the glory of God and the hope we have in Him that fills us with peace. Our relationship with Him is where we find that peace. Are we spending time in the presence of God beholding His glory and allowing Him to do His good work in our hearts even in the midst of the suffering around us. Our world is desperate for hope that can only be found in Him. May God use us as His vessels of hope in our clinics, our communities and among the nations to spread His glory.