Get A Glimpse

Illustration: Is there someone, maybe a loved one or a close friend, who you enjoy spending time with? When it comes to that special person, talking on the phone is good, or doing Facetime, but nothing beats being with them in their presence.

In Exodus 33, Moses gets alone with God to be in His presence. His experience with God was special, and yet it’s the same experience which God desires to have with every one of us. But we are often too busy for God. If we were Moses, we would say, “Sorry, God, I don’t have time to get alone with you for 40 days. How about 40 minutes?” God wants to spend some alone time with you every day for the rest of your life. What are we missing?

There are three truths we must understand:

1. God is Present (v. 14-16)

God continually gave His presence to the Children of Israel as He led them through the wilderness. He guided them as a pillar of cloud during the day and as a pillar of fire at night. God was certainly with them.

Moses wanted the personal presence of God in his life (“If thy presence go not with me”). We know that God gives His presence to groups, such as the church, but does He give His presence to individual people? The Bible records that He does.

God said these words to Moses when He called him: “Certainly I will be with thee” (Ex. 3:12). He later told Joshua, “…as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Josh. 1:5). God spoke these powerful words to Gideon: “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour” (Judg. 6:12). When Gideon questioned Him, God responded, “Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man” (v. 16). Later God reminded David with these words: “I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest…” (II Sam. 7:8-9). Upon his call, the prophet Jeremiah received these words from God, “Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord” (Jer. 1:8). What about the New Testament? These words were said of Peter and John: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

God’s presence is not a mystical thing; it’s a blessed reality. Today Jesus says these words to you: “…and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:20). Hebrews 13:5 gives you this promise: “…for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

What an awesome privilege to have God’s presence in our lives! But let me ask you this question: How much of God’s presence do you want?

James 4:8—“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw night to you…”

You are as close to God as you want to be. God wants to be close to you, but He’s waiting for you to move first. This means that even a Christian, a child of God, can be far away from the Lord. Just as a father can have a distant, almost non-existent relationship with his son, so you can have a distant relationship with your heavenly Father.

Notice that the presence of God is what set Israel apart. Verse 16b—“so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.” Christians should be distinct for just one reason: the presence of God.

Ex: Church of the Laodiceans; Jesus was outside the church—didn’t have God’s presence

How present is God in your life?

2. God is Personal (v. 17)

God is a very personal God. He not only knows your name, but He has taken steps which prove that He is nothing short of obsessed with you! You have to see these for yourself.

Psalm 139:16, “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”

Matthew 10:29-30, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

Psalm 56:8, “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?”

Revelation 5:8, “And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.”