A question was presented to the writers of faith, “Why would the readers of this column want your faith? If you want the readers to identify with you, then you have to come outside of your comfort zone.”
It is easy to talk about our faith, but to come out of our comfort zone, is another situation. It means becoming vulnerable. It’s not so much about showing our weaknesses as much as revealing the greatness of the One we trust in. And how do we do that?
Moses asked God to show him His glory and the Lord said to Moses, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you.” Exodus 33:19
As I pondered this thought, the Spirit of Christ swept over me as if to say, “You can not understand My glory without personally experiencing My goodness.”
The Spirit continued, “I was there when you wanted to throw away your marriage and you could have lost your children. I saved you from yourself. I listened to your prayers when you begged Me for things that would have destroyed you. I wouldn’t give them to you and you were angry with Me.”
“I could have stopped you any time, but I didn’t. I knew the worst in you. You didn’t know what was in your heart, but I did and I knew what you were capable of doing, both good and bad. You had to see it for yourself. My grace covered you and the lessons were better for you than the sin and pain you suffered.”
“I was there when you sat in the hospital room looking at your son with his leg in hundreds of pieces. I even allowed the doctors to doubt their own ability to save his leg. I pulled the veil back on the spirit world that night and you saw my angels diligently working on his leg. I made you aware that I was there with you. Your son walks with a slight limp today as a reminder I valued his wholeness and saved him greater pain.”
“I was in the car with you traveling over Cumbres Pass and you slid off the icy road where the side drops down a mile. I put that barbwire fence there to catch you thirty feet down. You climbed up that steep incline praising My name. I chuckled at your enthusiasm and the man passing by stopped his car, looked and shook his head in disbelief as to how you survived.”
“I was there every time your son overdosed and I spared his life and spared you the heartache of burying a teenage child.”
“I gave you a sense of humor and laughter to help you deal with your life which has not been neat and tidy. You could not have been satisfied in a one-dimensional lifestyle. You have things in your heart that needed to be dealt with. I’ve forgiven you and I knew one day you would learn about my love. I take great joy and pleasure in you and I sing over you, did you know that? I am personally invested in you.”
“I gave you a thirst for learning and yet you were deprived of a college and higher education. It has made you hungry for learning. I gave you a hard beginning; it made you fight for understanding and a better station in life.”
“I pulled you out of some dark dreary places where you insisted on walking and where my angels feared to tread. I was there leading you through the darkness.”
So, as I, a writer of faith, lay my soul bare, I ask myself the question, why do I believe? Why would the readers of this column want what I have?
I believe it is because, I’ve seen the goodness of God pass by me. I have known His presence in the worst of times and the best of times. I’m compelled to His love. He hid me in the cliff of the Rock and showed me not only the tragic things which He spared me from, He forgave my sins, and has shown me the love with which He has taken care of me. I’ve seen His Glory in the little things and big things.
The Lord said to Moses, “I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you.” He has done that for me. He has passed by me in the person of His Son Jesus, and through His dying He gave me access into a world where God rules in love and goodness. His life bought and paid for my entrance there. That is why I witness and proclaim my faith.
When God told Moses to hide in the cleft, He showed him His goodness? Did Moses see the depth of his own wretchedness in order to see God’s goodness clearly? I don’t know, but for me, it seems to be that way.
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