How is God like a Father in your life?
Weekend > 7 / 5
U 1 teach me Your Ways
Moses said to the Lo r d,“ Look, You have told me,‘ Lead this people up,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. You said,‘ I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’”— Exodus 33:12
Read Exodus 33:12-17. Have you ever gone through a maze? It’ s confusing! It causes you to ask,“ Where do I go now?” and“ Who knows the way out?” It’ s full of unexpected twists, turns, and surprises around every corner.
The older we get, the more confusing God’ s ways and life’ s journey becomes. Our search for who He is and what He wants us to do can sometimes seem like a maze. We have questions, so we make a decision and choose a path to follow. We find those answers around the corner, but run into another fork in the path where more questions await— and so on.
Enter today’ s Scripture passage. Even when he didn’ t understand God’ s ways, Moses still surrendered and sought God out, saying,“ Please teach me Your ways!”
This is the same kind of prayer we need to pray daily. Each day presents a new twist or turn, an unfamiliar path to follow, a new decision to make. Don’ t you want to know that the Person who knows the way through the maze is guiding your steps? For Him to teach you His ways, you have to actually know Him.
Many people don’ t know God because they aren’ t seeking Him or spending time with Him every day. The“ maze” of seeking Him may seem overwhelming at times, but He is not unattainable or unknowable. He desires to have a deep, authentic relationship with you— one in which you will seek Him and say,“ Show me Your ways, and I will follow!”
Monday > 7 / 6
God wants to know you.
Think back to when you were a kid. Do you remember kthe times your dad, grandfather, a teacher, or some other male figure in your life walked into a room? I’ ll bet some of them carried a certain authority and presence with them wherever they went. Did you have respect for those men? Did you want to be near them?
Read through Exodus 33:18-23 and carefully consider verse 19. � What do you think Moses meant when he asked God to show His glory?
He said,“ I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name Yahweh before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”— Exodus 33:19
� Why is it that he couldn’ t see the face of God and live?
� Do you ever desire to feel the presence of Father God more?
� Think back on the men you’ ve respected or had a close bond with in life. Do you think God desires to have a close, intimate relationship with us as His children?
Moses wanted to fully know God and spent time in His glorious presence. In today’ s Scripture passage, Moses’ relationship with God appears vital and intimate. Moses seemed to be very comfortable with God, so much that he simply asked God what he’ d been dying to ask: to see God’ s glory. God didn’ t hide from Moses or ignore his request. He answered Moses and chose to honor Moses’ request, but in His own way and in His own time.
The point? God desires to have an intimate relationship with you. He wants to display His glory, as much as you can handle, and allow you to know more and more of His character. Think about it like this: God originally created the relationship between a father and his child to be a deep connection. Some of you have the kind of dad that you now experience that kind of connection with, and others of you don’ t. No matter what kind of dad you have, God the Father desires to show Himself clearly to you. He wants to know you intimately and have the kind of relationship with you that a Father has with his son or daughter. But you have to be willing.
How is God like a Father in your life?
12 | jul 2009 ec magazine