“Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, ‘You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die’” (Exodus 20.18-21 NKJV).
I have two pets—a ten-year-old brown dachshund, Rusty, and a two-year-old grey and white cat, Shiro. Both are very needy. Neither wants to be left alone. Since I work from home, they follow me around the house everywhere. When I finally sit in one spot, they take the opportunity to relax. They lounge in the kitchen, the office, the living room, the enclosed patio and in my garage gym while I work out. The interesting thing is that I play loud Christian music and lift heavy, especially when I do deadlifts, when I work out in the garage gym. The thundering noise of the two 45-pound plates and 45-pound bar hitting the concrete ground can be heard outside and inside. Yet, they don’t flinch. They sleep right through my workout—loud music, thundering weights and all. Why aren’t they scared? They hear someone drop a plate and both animals jump. The answer is simple. They trust me. They know I won’t hurt them. The noise is acceptable because they are safe with me. The people of God were to prepare themselves to meet God, but they wouldn’t go because the thundering, the trumpets and the flashes of light scared them. They begged Mosses to speak for them. They didn’t have an intimate relationship with God, so they didn’t trust Him. Instead of walking in relationship with God like Abraham, they received a bunch of commands instead. Six hundred and thirteen rules to be exact. Intimacy was replaced with laws because they allowed fear to keep them away from their loving God Who had shown them numerous benevolent miracles in the wilderness. This is the same for us today. God may ask us to go places or do things that scare us, but if He is calling us into the noise, we must trust that He has a plan. We can also be sure that, like Moses, we will deepen our intimacy with the Lord as we trust and obey.
Has God ever called you into a situation that scared you? Did you trust Him and obey, or did you run away with fear? If you did trust God through the noise, what did you learn? Did your intimacy with Him deepen as a result of your obedience?
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