DOES GOD KNOW YOUR NAME?
Wow what a question - Does God know your name? My goal this year is to read
through the bible. As I was reading through Exodus I was struck by this line:
Exodus 33: 17 And the Lord said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked,
because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."
Imagine God knowing your name, but how do we know in our hearts that God knows
our names? The one thing Moses did was talk to God on a regular basis. However,
have we really talked to God lately or have we just lobed requests at Him as though
He worked a fast food drive-in?
Moses did not do that - in fact when he met with God, it was on God's
timetable - not his. Who in his right mind would climb a mountain and talk with God
40 days - surely no one I know would take that time today!!
But that is just what we need to do today - climb a mountain and be with God!!
Climbing a mountain in Mose's day was no easy feat - steep, rough mountain trails,
really I would be hard pressed to call them trails more like a path cut out by some
wild animal. Not an easy path to follow, but when meeting with the Lord of Glory the
trip is surely worth it!!
Now flash forward to today - we make climbing mountains easy!! We blow holes in
them and put tunnels through them, or we blast away rock and put a nicely paved
road through them. But even with all our short cuts - a trip up a mountain still isn't
easy, especially if you aren't used to the trip.
Picture a tall mountain looming in the distance and the thought of a nice Sunday
drive comes to mind. You begin your decent up the mountain and you think that
this was a great idea - what a beautiful day.
After a short time of driving and looking at the scenery you realize that your chest
feels heavy and it is getting hard to breathe. So you pull over at a rest stop and sit for
awhile - hoping and praying that pressure lessens. Some of us will turn around at
the pit stop and say the pressure is too much I have to turn back...they never met
their goal of making it to the top of the mountain.
Others of us though will rest a bit and then continue on. After we begin going back up
the mountain we travel for a little bit aware of height, but still enjoying the drive. All
of a sudden you get a violent retching in your stomach and you think you are going to
throw up - so you pull over and try to breath slowly. You find a little grocery store and
you go in and buy soda crackers - after sitting for about 2 hours your stomach begins
to feel better. Now you must decide do you proceed on or turn around and head
home. A lot of us will turn around and say something like the ride was so very nice,
but it is getting late and I don't want it to be dark when I try coming back down the
mountain. A small portion of us will continue up to the top of the mountain.
The trip that you imagined was a short, scenic trip, but that isn't what it turned out to
be. It has been beautiful it is true, but it has been hard. You are tired, worn out,
even a little light headed. It is now dark and the mountain roads seem to drop off
into nowhere, but you are determined to make it to the top of the mountain.
It is now midnight and you make it to the top of the mountain. You pull off at the
last scenic rest stop, but you see no glorious view - only darkness. So you sleep and
rest awhile. You made this trip and you are not going to miss the view for anything.
Hours latter something wakes you gently..it is the light splashing across your face.
You sit up excitedly knowing that you will finally see what you have been seeking
and you aren't disappointed. This is something you will never forget, but what does
that have to do with God knowing our names?
The journeys are the same and there will be problems, pressures, and darkness - but
if we push-on we will not be disappointed. So what did Moses ask God for when he
got to the top. Was is money, fame, healing, etc...no this is what Moses asked for:
Exodus 33: 18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."
All Moses wanted was to see God - thats it to stand in His presence. How many of us
would have made that journey just to see God - really not many. We are happy with
a safe distant relationship. We explain it away by saying we don't have time, we are
busy for the kingdom. Or we that if we face that many problems, then God doesn't
want us to climb the mountain.
Do you want God to know your name - really? Do you want to fight your way up the
mountain to just meet with God? If so then begin the journey today and start up that
hard path, but remember you will meet obstacles. How you deal with those
obstacles
determines whether you will see the view or not!!
Exodus 33: 17 And the Lord said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked,
because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."
Exodus 33: 18 Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory."
