“God is your friend” By Diane Webb

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“God is your friend” By Diane Webb

Exodus 33: 14 “And he said, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.”

In Exodus 33, God has informed Moses he will not go with the Israelites into the Promised Land because the people had broken the covenant with him.  He referred to the Israelites as “stiff necked people”.  Moses reminds God of their personal relationship and the promises God made to him.  He attempted to argue with God in order to convince God to stay in their midst.  Moses basically says he did not want to go anywhere God was not.  He would rather stay in the wilderness with God than go into the Promised Land without God.  Moses felt confident in his relationship with God and he therefore talked openly with God about how he felt.  He eventually is reassured by God--“And he said, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest”.   Moses and God were friends and talked as such (although Moses never forgot God’s authority and power).  Moses spent time with God every day and they conversed for hours.  When God met Moses on Mount Sinai, they talked for 40 days.  Moses came away with a glow on his face that frightened the Israelites.   God came up with a way for Moses to see him.  God protected Moses by covering him with his own hand.  When the Israelites worshipped the golden calf the covenant between them and God was broken.  God, at this point, could have left them in the wilderness and never lead them to the Promised Land.  God chose to fulfill his earlier promise to Abraham and Jacob by allowing the Israelites to have the Promised Land but he was not going to remain in their midst as originally planned.  Through Moses’ intercession, the covenant was restored between God and the Israelites and God agrees to remain with them.  When the Israelites first heard God tell Moses he was not going to go with them into “the land flowing with milk and honey” they went into mourning and repented in their hearts.  They, too, were upset about the prospect of being separated from God.  Once you have been in God’s presence, it would be unbearable to be separated from God.  Many people refer to their lives as “heck on earth” (but they don’t say “heck”).  This accurately describes a life without the presence of God and the Israelites feared this.  Moses, after being in constant fellowship with God, did not want to live separate from God and neither did the Israelites.  Moses considered that worse than death.  Jesus’ disciples felt the same way.  Before his ascension, Jesus reassured his disciples that his presence would remain with them as well (Matthew 28:  20).  They, like Moses, did not want to be separated from Christ having lived, worked, walked, and talked with him as friends.  God promised Moses his presence would always be with him and Jesus promised the disciples that his presence would remain with them.  We are also disciples of Jesus and therefore are assured, like Moses, of God’s presence with us.   Romans 8:  31 asks us “if God is for us who can be against us?”  Do we forget our relationship with God and therefore begin to fear, like the stiff necked Israelites?  Or, like Moses, do we hold fast to God and refuse to let go?  God is God yet he wants to be our friend.  He wants to spend time with us, walk with us, talk with us, and live with us.  Jesus’ death and resurrection makes it possible for God to remain with us in our midst just like he did with Moses.  Throughout this day, look for God’s presence and hold fast to it.  Never forget he is your friend and wants to be there with you and for you.  Call on his name just like you would a friend.

Dear Lord, help me remember today that you are here with me and you are my friend.  Help me be worthy of your friendship and your presence.  Help me have a glow on my face that shows others I have been in the presence of God.  I ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.