Scripture
"The Lord replied, 'My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.' Then Moses said to him, 'If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?' " (Exodus 33:14-16)
Observation
How do you respond when faced with a challenging situation? Do you grumble and whine about your hardship and circumstances? Do you reminisce about the good ole’ days and get discouraged by your current place in life? Do you take matters into your own hands and try to just figure things out only to make it worse? I know I respond in these ways regularly, which I was why I identify so well with the Israelites. God set them free from slavery, and I’m sure they all celebrated and pledged their allegiance to Him...for a moment. But then...then life got hard, as it has the tendency of doing, and they found themselves pursued by their enemies, in need of water, in need of food, and even in need of direction, and each time they found themselves challenged and in need, they resorted to 1 of these 3 ways of responding. The latest one: their leader, Moses, when up a mountain to get direction from God, but because he was taking longer than expected, they decided to take matters into their own hands and build their own god out of gold. That was a bad idea! That was sin, and this would come with consequences. God’s response: I will remain faithful, even though you were faithless. You can still go to the Promised Land, I will still protect you, but I will not go with you. I’m sure there must have been more than a few in the crowd that thought, “Cool, let’s go then because at least we get to experience this amazing Promised Land”. But Moses knew better! Moses knew that the most important thing wasn’t the place, and it wasn’t the provision, and it wasn’t the protection. Yes, these things were all nice, but the most important thing to them was God’s Presence. So Moses led the people in worship, he led the people in repentance, he led the people in receiving forgiveness, and God granted His grace, yet again, and agreed that His Presence would go with them. Moses even said: If you don’t go with us then don’t send us at all because Your Presence is more important than anything else...even the Promised Land.
Application
I wonder if I’ve missed it a little and have longed more for the blessed life of the Promised Land than for the Presence of the Lord. I wonder if I’ve longed more for the absence of problems than the actual presence of God. I wonder if I’ve responded to hardship in these negative ways of grumbling, reminiscing, and taking matters into my own hands because I was more concerned with getting out of the desert than going with God. I’m reminded that God never promised to keep us from the valleys of life; rather He promised to walk with us through those valleys. It’s His Presence that will get us through every high and every low of life. It’s His Presence that brings the comfort when your heart is broken, that brings the peace when your life is a wreck, that brings the hope when you think all hope is lost, and that brings the strength when you’re weary. I wonder if the best thing I can do when faced with a challenging situation is ask for His Presence because when He’s there...well, when He’s there it’s all good! This doesn’t mean the tough times won’t come, because they will. This doesn’t mean everything will be easy, because it won’t! BUT, if His Presence is with you, you will have everything you need to get through.
Prayer
Jesus, for those that are struggling with challenging situations, even this very moment, I ask for Your Presence! May Your Presence provide them everything they need to not only get through this situation but anything they might ever face. Help us to better understand the value of Your Presence that we might not long for the absence of problems more than presence of our God. In Your name, Amen!
