Sunday, January 26, 2014

Exodus 33: Fellow Travelers

Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’  If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
- Ex. 33:12-14 NIV

We all need someone to go with us; this journey is too much to undertake on our own.  God waking with us should be enough, but most of the time, we are not looking for God to walk with us, we are looking for earthly companions.  His presence gives us peace, gives us rest, but few of us take advantage of what he offers. We are looking for help on the human level rather than the help that comes from God. We rely on those we feel are more holy, more religious than us to be our guide rather than on God's word and his Holy Spirit.  Many of us spend more time reading books by Christian authors than the Word of God.  Many of us spend more time listening to the latest televangelist or video teaching than we do listening to God. Many of us spend more time telling our brothers and sisters our problems than we do telling God.  That's not to say that others don't bring us comfort or share our burdens, but they will never be for us what God is meant to be. 

God had confidence in Moses because Moses sought the Lord.  Moses wanted to know God because he knew that only God could give him what he needed to lead this undisciplined people that God had saddled him with.  While Moses may not have recognized it, God also gave him the others he needed to share the journey with.  He had Aaron and Miriam, although sometimes they were more of a hindrance than a help.  He had Joshua, Joshua who was everything that Moses might have been were he younger, Joshua, who would not leave the Tent of Meeting where God spoke with Moses, Joshua who would someday lead the people. God also gave Moses Caleb who was not afraid, even of giants.  When Moses became content with God being his only companion, God gave him others to share the journey.

God never fails to put fellow travelers in the path of those whose eyes are set on him. 

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