Moses and the Back of God
"Then I will remove my hand, and you will see me from behind. But my face will not be seen."
Exodus 33:23
Sometimes I wonder if God really is with us. So often it seems like God is easy to miss. Like in those times when you pray for peace and there is no peace, or you pray for strength and there is no strength. In those moments God can seem very far away indeed. And it’s in moments like those that I try to remember something I read about Moses and his interactions with God.
In Exodus 33 Moses implores God to show him God’s glory; amazingly God complies with the request. But since God is God Moses can not see God’s face, so God says he will cover Moses with his hand and that Moses will only be able to see God’s back. In his book Velvet Elvis, pastor/author Rob Bell says that some of the ancient Jewish rabbis argued that “the word back should be understood as a euphemism for ‘where I just was.’”
This concept makes a lot of sense to me, because I can more likely see God interacting in situations when I look back. So often when I am in the midst of a moment I lose sight of the larger implications and the more mystical aspects. It is when I look back that I truly understand the amazing set of circumstances, words, and people that it took to carry me through, and it is then that I truly realize that God is most assuredly always with us.
+ How have you seen God working in your daily life?
+ Is it easier to notice God’s moving after you look back at moments?
+ Pray that God will open your heart and your eyes so that you can see where God is moving today.
Peace and Love,
Pastor K
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