how the light gets in

Tag: Moses

• Holy

  Posted at 2:51 pm by How the Light Gets In, on October 21, 2019

  I’m not a Biblical Scholar or a God expert. Period.

  Now that that’s clear, can we take a look at the burning bush story in Exodus? God is trying to get Moses’ attention. So, he lights a bush on fire. Wouldn’t have been my first attention-grabbing choice. And, I’m not God.

  The burning bush is not burning up; intrigued Moses moves closer. God then says,

  ‘Moses, Moses! Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”

  Exodus 3:5

  Holy Ground.

  What if God is asking Moses to take off his sandals so he can stand firm and connected to the holy ground. Slide your feet out of your shoes now. Wriggle your toes a bit. Tell God thanks for where you are right this moment. This moment, wherever you are, because you invite God in – I believe (again not a theologian) but I believe you are on Holy Ground.

  Looking for Joy, Hoping for Miracles – it can be exhausting and feel small minded. I hope that doesn’t come across as offensive or sacrilegious. I’m just so convinced that God is bigger than what we imagine. God is more creative and hope-giving than we give Him credit for, and that God loves us more than we can grasp… so why not realize where you are, with whom you are speaking and take off your dang shoes.

  Holy doesn’t just happen for saints or in a church either. It doesn’t. I believe Holy happens in…

  • Random coincidences: when you bump into a friend while on a walk. And walking – WALKING – is hard for both of you today, but you are both out and both just need encouragement and are there to high five each other at just the right moment.

  • In the quiet: journaling at home with the most sacred of stained glass windows to look through (courtesy of the cutest 6 year old).

  

  • Nature: when the “burning bush” is a row of trees ablaze in yellow and you stop to take it in.

  

  • In God’s word: spending time to get to know His voice, learn His attention to detail, and appreciate His character.

  

  

  Holy, holy NO!!! a sink full of dishes is not holy. Sorry.

  A few weeks ago, I got a call-back for my mammogram. The doctor found something and wanted a second look. That’s never encouraging. So, I invited God into my freak out session so I wouldn’t drown. I went for the second mammogram. They called me back, yet again, for an ultrasound.

  Sitting in that robe, waiting for the doctors results; I said out loud, “Hey God, we’re good right? No matter what happens next. We are good.”

  And then this popped up on the computer screen:

  

  That dimly lit ultrasound room of the Cancer Institute all at once felt holy. Coincidence, crazy, Alexa… I call it God.

  I call it God seeing his Andrea being dramatic and scared and needing a clear reminder of Him in her life. Holy, holy, holy.

  I took a deep breath and exhaled calmly knowing no matter what God would be with me. I was also smiling because MAN does God get me! To experience peace knowing a huge, ancient God is alive enough and close enough to see me and answer me (literally) felt sacred and holy. (Scans came back good.)

  God starts His book with a sweet Post It note, “I am with you and will watch over you where you go.” Genesis 28:15. I have felt it.

  Smack dab in the middle of the Bible, Isaiah says, “Holy Holy Holy is the Lord.. the whole earth is full of His glory!” (6:3) I have seen it.

  Then there’s Jesus! Jesus is a living example of how to love, serve, grieve, celebrate WITH God the Father. I have read it.

  All this and I still don’t do it right. And still, God loves me and shows up in ways to make me shake my head in awe.

  Holy sounds and feels and looks rich with reverence and full of awareness. And that has everything to do with God. When you invite God in you are allowing His presence to make that moment holy. Sooooo…. what are you waiting for? What am I waiting for?

  Should we take off our shoes?

  Let’s invite God in and then look, listen, wait – let it be holy.

  Posted in OCTOBER 2019 | 1 Comment | Tagged Biblical Scholar, exodu 3:5, Genesis 28:15, holy, How the Light Gets In, Isaiah 6:3, Moses

• Moses, God, Me & You…

  Posted at 1:35 pm by How the Light Gets In, on March 13, 2019

  Lily’s been home sick with the flu this week. We HAD to get out of the house to pick up groceries at Walmart. I told her this would be the easiest “job.” We park, we wait, we get the groceries and off we go.

  “Moooooom. That’s the hardest. Waiting is the hardest. Waiting feels like hard work.”

  Doesn’t it though?

  The hard work of waiting makes me think of Moses. Everybody knows Moses. And while we could look to his story for so many reasons; for now, let’s focus on his relationship with God. The connection Moses has with God is goooooooood. In fact, it is so goooooood; Jews, Christians AND Muslims recorded his walk with God into words on pages for you and me to read.

  So, let’s do this: Moses and God. Me and God. And yes, You and God.

  Exodus 14:21-22 describes this scene: “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the seas into dry land. So then waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.”

  Moses stretched out his hand over the sea.

  Right this moment, would you stand up and stretch out your hand? I dare you. Hold your hand out there for a moment.

  In this story, Moses is struggling but Moses is trying. He’s all vulnerable, stretching his hand out away from his body over a mass of dark water. God told Moses to stretch his hand over water and Moses is listening.

  The next sentence reads “the Lord drove the sea back… all that night.” This is profoundly beautiful and powerful. At Moses’ darkest, God himself is working right alongside him. Moses wasn’t able to see it happening but God was working.

  Moses does his part and God is right next to him. Moses’ blind faith and God’s almighty power working together so “the waters were divided and the Israelites went THROUGH the sea on DRY GROUND.” Come on. There is real power when we say yes to God.

  Now, there is another element to Moses’ life story that is so worth lingering with just a bit longer. When Moses couldn’t hear God, he didn’t give up on Him. And because God wasn’t showing up in a burning bush or booming voice, also doesn’t mean that God wasn’t still right alongside Moses.

  And just a few chapters later, we read about one other way God works with us, for us. While the Jews were still recovering from their escape, they came under attack by the Amalekites. Moses ordered Joshua to choose a group of elite soldiers to go fight. In the meantime, Moses would go stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in his hands to pray with his friends, Aaron and Hur.

  Standing on the top of that hill, watching Joshua and his men fight the angry Amalekites; Moses holds up the rod and prays to God. But war takes time. And over time, the three men noticed something interesting.

  Exodus 17:11 “As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands the Amalekites were winning. When Moses hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Then, Aaron and Hur held his hands up — one on one side, one on the other – so that his hands remained steady…”

  The outcome of war depended on Moses holding his hands up. That’s a lot of pressure. And when the weight of the waiting and war became too much, God sent Moses a few friends to carry the burden. So they “held his hands up… and his hands remained steady.” The Amalekites were defeated.

  Sometimes, when we’re looking, trying, holding our hands up; God sends a friend. I see it over and over in my life. I’m sure you do too. After I shared about Grounding and my pain, you showed up in the most beautiful ways – with carefully mixed essential oils for my pain, with a mug that says “Stay Grounded,” with fun earrings, with messages of encouragement. You, my beautiful friends, reflect God in the sweetest ways.

  

  

  The detailed, loving ways YOU show up for me give me glimpses of the way GOD cares for me.

  Here’s where it all comes together.

  The God who helped Moses – the God who worked right beside him, the God who sent Moses a friend, the God who split the sea, the God who listened, answered, kept showing up – Moses’ God is your God.

  Present tense now.

  That means God works right beside you, God will send you a friend, God will make a way for you, God listens to you, God answers you, God keeps showing up.

  Maybe you’re still waiting. Maybe you’ve seen or heard God before but it’s been a while. Maybe you’ve never seen or heard God. Scroll through some of my older posts. Let my glimpses be your first glimpse.

  This is where I WISH I could fade in the music! But I can’t so click on this link.

  CLAP. YOUR. HANDS.

  God did it for Moses. He is doing it for me. God wants to do it for you.

  Posted in MARCH 2019, Uncategorized | 3 Comments | Tagged Elevation Worship, Exodus 14, Exodus 17, Moses