Momentum: How To Ignite Your FaithSample

IT’S ABOUT GOD’S PRESENCE, NOT HIS PRESENTS

“I am so far away from the man I was when I first felt the call to start my church. I’ve become all about me and my ego. I have to focus on getting my walk with God where it should be before I can do anything else.”

Those painful words are from a young and rising megachurch pastor who fell into moral sin and had to step down from his church. In recent years, we’ve seen a steady stream of scandals among well-known and gifted pastors. The headlines are always about the scandalous and shocking behavior.

However, there is a back story. It is the story of a neglected soul and mismanaged character. The longer we walk with God, the more susceptible to the danger of self-reliance we become. We may begin to rely on our ability, our gifts (God’s “presents”), and our experience. That’s why Paul doesn’t pull any punches in Romans 12:3 when he says, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.”

We see an interesting progression in the life of Moses that reminds us of the importance of staying connected to Jesus. If you go to Exodus 33, you will find a very intriguing scene. Moses had interceded for the Israelites and asked God not to destroy them because of their idolatry. God answered by saying he would send them into the Promised Land but that his presence wouldn’t go with them. In Exodus 33:3, God tells us why: “I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”

Moses’ response to God gives us a clue about how far his relationship with God had developed over the years. He had matured, and his soul was deeply connected to God. “Then Moses said to him, ‘If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here’” (Exodus 33:15).

In Exodus 3, God’s presence wasn’t enough for Moses. He needed the dramatic and spectacular. But by Exodus 33, God’s presence was all that mattered to Moses. God was his life. Moses had learned the valuable lesson that his relationship with God mattered more than his skill and leadership.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Are you tempted to elevate your own gifts above your dependence on God?

Today’s Takeaway
Seek God’s presence more than his provision.