God as My Friend

Scripture Reading: Exodus 32 –34

Verses of Note:
Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. You call me by name and tell me I have found favor with you. And the Lord replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, I will give you rest – everything will be fine for you. And the Lord replied to Moses, “I will indeed do what you have asked, for you have found favor with me, and you are my friend.”
Exodus 33:11-17

I spent part of the day yesterday talking to a friend who had been explaining the continuing efforts to read her Bible daily in order to complete the final chapter by the end of the year. I was explaining to her about a time where I had been able to experience God in an incredibly personal way and how I missed the blessings I received during that time. Some of the blessings were financial, but the experience itself was an unimaginable blessing as well. I continue to struggle how to return to that experience. We know that it is not God who moves from us, but we who move away from him. Unfortunately, I stand at the edge of a dense wood and I am finding it difficult to identify the original path I walked.

At the urging of my pastor and others I began reading my Bible again. I bought a Daily Devotional Bible that takes you through the Bible in a year. And though I miss reading, often, I still found myself closer to Him, but I am only just along the forest edges. I still had not found the path to the ‘secret place’. That place where there was true, complete connection. I remembered a book I had read about Praise, Worship, and Glory. During the time I was reading that book I, and even the company I worked, for had received great blessings from God. So I began to read this book again. As I read I found a second path, this one further into the forest but it too did not take me to the ‘Secret Place”.

I admit that the desire for the monetary blessings was part of my motivation for all this. I have my own company and need the blessings of God to run it. I guess in truth I should consider this God’s company and desire to run it for Him, since every part of the company has been by the Grace of God. But I won’t let Satan trick me into thinking that just because a small portion of my motivation is based on a desire for monetary gain (which actually is the result of desperation rather than greed), I should scrap the whole search as unworthy. While the motive is true, I know with every fiber of my being that the end result is a far greater blessing. This blessing goes beyond the reality of the natural and is truly supernatural; it is also available for any of God’s children. And I know to the very core of my soul, it is also God’s greatest desire to give it to us. It is the closest I can find for the very purpose of our whole existence. As I read the passages above I recalled that I had not been reading my Bible regularly, nor had I even conceived of the experience of the Glory of God!

I truly believe God’s greatest desire is to have us as His friend: to go beyond reading His Word; to do more that just spend time with Him; but to just ---- Be His friend. I think the best advice I ever saw on friendship (you’ve probably heard this too) is: “If you want to have a friend, you have to be a friend!” Well, I believe the same is true of our heavenly Father. Look what He tells us through Moses. Exodus 33 tells us that each day Moses went to the Tent of Meeting; the Lord would come to the entrance to the tent and speak to Moses face to face; as “a man speaks to a friend.” (Ex 33:11) Can you see the relationship they had? It makes me wonder. Would God have spoken to Moses as a friend if Moses had not been a friend back? I can almost imagine God’s great desire to be our friend; more than a desire but a need. Funny thing is I need God’s friendship even more.

What are the blessings of being God’s friend? For Moses it meant he could ask God anything and God would grant it. It the scripture God has decided to destroy the Israelites and begin a new nation through Moses, but Moses pleads with God not to. His friendship won the lives of the Jewish nation that day. However, the Lord responds that though He will guide them to the Promised Land, He will no longer stay with the Jewish people on their journey. Can you imagine traveling to a place of great blessing but without the company of the Lord Most High? Moses responded by pleading with God not to leave His people alone. I am always impressed by God’s answer. Though Moses pleads that God stay with the Jewish people God’s answer is that He will not leave Moses. God’s promise of rest and that everything will be fine is to Moses. What the Jewish people received in this deal was the overflow of the promise God made with Moses. The most wonderful thing I believe I could ever hear would be a response from God: “I will indeed do what you have asked, for you have found favor with me, and you are my friend.” (Ex 33:17)

Imagine a deep wood, there is a pathway and along the pathway is a large clearing with several benches. There is a bright light that shines on the trunks of the trees as though the light source is off in the distance. There are people here basking in the warm of this glow, but just a little farther is a small area in the underbrush revealing an opening with a beautiful ornate gate. The gate is open and one person is venturing around it. Beyond the gate is a clearing in the wood barely seen between the tree trunks and underbrush, where the source of the light can almost the identified. If you look closely you can see the edge of a large chair. Seated in the chair are two figures. The smaller of the two sits leaning on the second, larger, and very bright figure, the source of the light. The fingers of the two figures are entwined with one another. And the arm of the larger figure is wrapped around the smaller. Behind the smaller figure and partially encircling it is a large, white wing.

Prayer: Lord, I don’t want to just sit in the warmth of your Glory, I’d rather sit with You! I ask that everyone be shown that small, beautiful gate; that they may also come sit with you, their best friend! AMEN