Obey God and Leave All the Consequences to Him.
~ Charles Stanley
Moses said to the LORD, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ Now therefore, if I have found favor in Your sight, please show me now Your ways, that I may know You in order to find favor in Your sight. Consider too that this nation is Your people.” And He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to Him, “If Your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not in Your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and Your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” … And the LORD said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.” And He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” He said, “you cannot see My face, for man shall not see Me and live.” And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me where you shall stand on the rock, and while My glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
~ Moses, Experiencing G_d firsthand, in Exodus 33
Oh beloved, it is true.
We were indeed built to receive approval. The problem for us, is to decide where we are going to get it. And many of us really mess this up. Oh, we get it. We say: “I should only try to get my approval from G_d!” But then, in comes all the other stuff of life.
We have bosses that threaten us…
We have spouses we set up to make us happy…
We have friends who give us nice things when we are nice to them…
We find chemicals or images that seem to fill the hole inside us…
We look for cars or homes or clothes to make us feel OK…
However, when we get honest, the harder we try to get approval from anyone, or any thing, the less fulfilled we become. It is a terrible place for us to be. We know we need something, but we can’t get it.
Can we see it?
Moses finally did. Moses had been putting up with a stubborn band of people. They had resisted his leadership on nearly every front. Forty years of preparation had made him steadfast and meek, but this group of people was really starting to get Moses discouraged.
And so, Moses went up to the mountain to meet with his Maker. These two had become close friends, but even here, Moses was missing something. The discussion begins with Moses asking G_d, to give him someone to go along on the Journey. And here though, in his asking for a traveling companion, it seems that Moses begins to get it.
Moses says, “show me Your ways.”
“Make this nation Your People.”
Upon G_d promising His near Presence throughout the journey, Moses presses his case, and The L_RD promises His friend that He is not leaving.
And then, Moses finally gets it. It seems to take all of us a while to understand.
Moses realized that he wanted G_d. Not just the favor of G_d. Moses wanted to feel the overwhelming pressure (glory) and friendship of the Very Person of I AM to be with him. He wanted to sense intimacy, and acceptance from G_d alone.
And, OH MY, The Creator did this. Then Moses was never the same.
So, are you seeking approval in life? This is a normal quest. We were built for this. Appropriate approval and respect is well up the path to proper actualization of our identities. However, what we cannot miss is what Moses almost did. We want Him. We really don’t want any thing else – even if we think we do.
Tonight is your night. Time to seek HIS approval alone. This will truly help you walk tall and whole and free.
There was a day when I died; died to self, my opinions, preferences, tastes and will; died to the world, its approval or censure; died to the approval or blame even of my brethren or friends; and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.
~George Müller
