It's Not About Me.........

A sleepless night brought me to a book I read about a year and a half ago...It's Not About Me...Rescue from the Life We Thought Would Make Us Happy, by Max Lucado. It is a wonderful book, and an easy read, I encourage you to get a copy (ask to borrow mine if you'd like).

Mr. Lucado tells us that when our deepest desire is not the things of God or a favor from God, but God Himself, we cross a threshold. In Exodus 33:11, the Bible tells us that "the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend..." (what a thought!) In this conversation, Moses has beseeched God to go with him and to show him the way as he leads the hard-headed, forgetful Israelites through the wilderness. God agrees and grants Moses one more, very special, request. In Exodus 33:18, this man, this friend of God makes his request. Was it to save him from the trials ahead, from the wilderness looming before him, full of giants and armies, not to mention the millions of ungrateful complaining people he would be leading? No...his request was for a glimpse of God's glory. "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory (Exodus 33:18).

God has promised to be with Moses, not save him from the trials ahead. This glimpse of God was all Moses needed to steel him for what was ahead. There is a most beautiful description of that moment. "And so Moses, cowering beneath the umbrella of God's palm, waits, surely with face bowed, eyes covered and pulse raising. When the hand lifts, Moses' eyes do the same and catch a distant, disappearing glance of the back parts of God...I'm seeing the long gray hair of Moses wind-whipped forward and his leathery hand grabbing a rock in the wall lest he fall. And as the gust settles and his locks rest again on his shoulders, we see the impact. His face. Gleaming. Bright as if backlit by a thousand torches. Unknown to Moses, but undeniable to the Hebrews, is his shimmering face."

Based on the Hebrews behavior and what lay before him, Moses had reason for anger and for fear, but instead God's glory was what was evident on his face. Now, having seen God's face, Moses can face what was ahead.

Max reminds us that we can look around and find fear, or look at our Father's face and find faith.

"You and I need what Moses needed - a glimpse of God's glory." It's in His Word, His love letter to us....my prayer is you take some time to find Him there.