Tuesday, August 31, 2010

chooseday a.m.

currently drinking pumpkin spice chai. i've changed it up today. i know, i know...watch out. i'm feeling pretty rebellious this morning. it's fall in a cup i've decided. oh, and it rained super hard, super early this morning. perfect. i woke up to it hitting the window and fell back asleep to it. in case you didn't know, rain is a goooood thing...for farmers and for sleeping. at least that's what i've heard on the radio. i'm still working my way through this character study piece on moses. i've got questions. what was it about him that God would speak to him as a man speaks to his friend? i want that. more than anything else. so, what was it about moses that God chose to lead him so clearly? why did moses get the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night? here's my guess. no, here's my theory. i really don't think it was as much about who moses was as it was about who God is.

moses wasn't perfect. God came close. he struggled. God came close. got confused. God came close. had moments of weakness. God came close. He desired to use moses, to meet with the old shepherd. to breathe life into him as the leader of His chosen people. now, i've found that moses truly desired the King of Israel. he made time. had to have it. life depended on it. the lives of others depended on it. God found favor with moses. He loved him. see exodus 33:7-12 for all of that. last week with the kiddos, we covered the tent of meeting. what it was. why it was there. why moses needed it. why we all need it. every day. we found that God would, in fact, speak with our favorite old shepherd face to face...as if you were right here at sugar brown's talking life with me. CRAZY. but, oh so true.

and here's what's cool for this week. we learned all about the tent from the outside, but now we're getting the inside scoop. when God could have chosen to simply let us know about the tent, He chooses to open the door and let us in.

hear me say, i love college football. it's hard to talk about fall without mentioning it, really. perhaps the most powerful memory from being a kid was riding in the car from our house in brentwood to the stadium in downtown nashville. as a young lad, dad would drive and i would stare at the leaves because the fall season back home is stop and stare worthy. more colors than a crayola box. they're changing every day. from green, to yellow, to fiery red, to brown. i remember our vanderbilt car flag flapping in the wind and smiling the whole way to the game. the air was cool, but still warm enough to wear shorts with your favorite hoodie that 5x too big. that's the BEST. i remember walking on the field and touching the grass. even pulling some out of the ground and putting it in my pocket when i got older. i know, i'm a huge nerd. i remember the smell of the grills from the parking lot and the haze they'd all create in the north end zone. i remember the red sea of people in the northeast corner when bama or georgia came to town. i remember our old stadium shifting whenever anyone scored. listening to the visiting band play their fight song and they're fans going crazy more times than our fans went crazy. we didn't win many of those games, but i just remember walking in and out with dad...as long as he was with me. i wouldn't leave his side the entire game. the one time i did, i got wrecked by mike gandalfo who played linebacker back then. (that's a whole 'nother story). i love college football. most see it from a distance. with dad working with the program all those years and me interning with athletics there after college, i got to see the inner workings. go to practices. watch the guys fill up the "water cows." (thanks allison for teaching ryan and i that term). well, i was watching ESPN the other day and it showed the behind the scenes of alabama football. they're the enemy. but, i couldn't help but watch the inner workings of something i had only seen from a distance. i wanted to know how it functioned. i wanted to know who the players and coaches really were away from the games and the glitz. i was glued. i wanted to know what it's like for them. it was almost as if the curtain was pulled back and we were allowed in.

and that's what God does for you. and me.

check the end of chapter 33. HE LETS US IN ON THE CONVO...in the locker room you could say. and by doing that, He invites us all into the sacred spot. He lets us know it's possible for us to have that, too. instead of merely telling us what the tent was and why it was used, He takes us in. behind the scenes. in doing so, He gives us the inside on who He really is and who moses really is. i'm glued. you gotta read it. it's God's convo with moses inside the tent. moses doesn't want to go anywhere without God. he really says that if You're not going to come with me, then i don't wanna go (33:15). kinda like me with dad all those years. at least that's the way i see it. and then the last part of that chapter has completely changed my scope of the glory of God. moses asks to see Him. to see His glory in complete fullness. God's response to the old shepherd reveals that God is by far, the most glorious One over all of creation. every other pales in comparison. go read this part. do it. and then come back.

louie giglio has always preached to us to "never buy the lie that there is anything better than Jesus." he's right. everything else pales in the glory comparison. every other love pales in the glory comparison. think about it...our King is too beautiful for us to even fully view!!! WHAT?!?! even seeing His back is more wonderful and more glorious than any other kind of beauty (33:21-23). He actually has to protect moses from the extent of His glory! unreal. how beautiful. the sad part is the fact that my heart tends to chase things and choose things that have no glory compared to what i have read in exodus 33. glory is due Him and Him alone. at the moment i'm simply trying to put myself in moses' shoes. after seeing that, what would i chase after? what would i find to be beautiful? would i still choose sins that i realize aren't glorious? what would become important in my day to day? would i still buy things that i don't need? what would become important and what fluff would fade? all i'm saying is that every time i think about the glory of God, it makes me want Him. OVER EVERYTHING ELSE. it takes me deeper. and while i go on that path, the things i've previously held to be glorious and honestly, more glorious than Him simply look...DUMB. and utterly, SINFUL.

i repent.

talking more about this with the kiddos wed. night. excited is an understatement. i've been changed. may that start in me this morning.

g

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