Tag Archives: God

Safe on Base

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“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty…”
(Psalm 91:1)

Today’s message is brought to you by that eternal and ever-present childhood game: Tag.  You remember the game: running furiously to avoid getting “tagged,” until that moment you are “it” and you begin to chase the rest of the crowd.  “No-Tag-Backs!” you’ll hear the children shout, just to make sure they can get away.

Of course there are countless varieties to the classic game:

Freeze Tag – once you’re tagged you are “frozen” in place until another person crawls under your legs.

Blob Tag – one person starts as “it,” but as others are tagged, they join hand-in-hand to create a large “it” blob

Toilet Tag – when you are tagged you must squat down to form the toilet and hold out your hand like a handle.  To get back in the game, someone must flush you and make the flushing sound.

Then you will all remember crying “Base” just before you got tagged.  Now, a good game leader will have established a base, if there is one.  But when kids just get together and start playing,  base” becomes whatever is closest to keep you from getting tagged; a tree, a wall, a rock, it doesn’t matter, just so long as it keeps you “safe.”  Of course then, arguments ensue about the legitimacy of the base, how long one can stay, and how far away “it” has to stay from the base.  Who knew Tag could be so complicated.

Now you be thinking, Pastor Ethan’s lost his mind… and you might be right.  But there’s actually a point to all of this.  When playing tag, having a pre-determined base could come in handy.  It was a safe place, a place to catch your breath.  I always thought, as a kid playing tag, that base was a cop-out.  That was, until I needed one.

Wouldn’t it be nice if in this life, when thing are spiraling out of control, when everything is “tagging” you and you feel like you’re always “it” – wouldn’t it be nice if there were a place to call “base,” a hideaway, a safe place to go?

This is the promise of the Lord’s presence in Psalm 91:1-2.  “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”

Now, before you all start singing “And he will raise you up on eagle’s wings…” consider for a moment what those verses have taught us about God.

God is a Shelter, a Refuge, a Fortress, He Hides us in the Shadow of his wings.  All of these images tell us that the Lord is a secure defense for those who trust in Him.  Keep in mind, you don’t need a shelter, a refuge, a fortress, a hiding place in times of comfort and ease.  The image of God as savior and keeper are only meaningful for those who need to be saved and kept from harm.

We are never promised that we will not face adversity.  In fact, Jesus said that those who follow Him must expect trials and tribulation (John 15:18-21).  Paul even said that no one who seeks to be righteous will avoid persecution (2 Tim 3:12).  We are not exempt from the storm, but we do have a shelter in the midst of it.

Today, whatever your facing, whatever storms are brewing, whatever “it” is chasing you down; run to Him who is your Shelter, your Refuge, your Fortress, hide yourself in the Shadow of His wings.

Sola Deo Gloria!

Transformed by His Glory

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“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.”
(Exodus 34:29)

Throughout his life, Moses had several encounters with the Lord, and it began to show.  Moses met God in the burning bush that was not consumed, and in that encounter was called to proclaim the release of God’s people from captivity in Egypt.  Through Moses, God’s mighty hand worked signs and wonders before Pharaoh, through the plagues and the parting of the sea.  And most spectacularly, Moses met with God on Mt. Sinai, where he received the 10 Commandments and the instructions for the life of the covenant nation of Israel.  All this time in the presence of God began to have a transforming effect.

Moses hungered for the word of God.  He would often set up a tent away from the camp (unlike the Tabernacle that was to be in the middle of the people), where Moses would pray and intercede for the people before the face of God.  We are told in Ex 33:9 that when Moses went into the tent, the cloud would descend upon the tent and the Lord would speak with Moses.

Moses hungered for the presence of God.  God had told Moses to lead the people up to Canaan, to a land flowing with milk and honey, but added that he would not go up with them, lest he consume them, for they were a stiff-necked people (Ex 33:3).  As he came before the Lord, Moses prayed “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.”  Moses had such an experience in the presence of God that he could not imagine going forward without God.  Life would be unbearable, the obstacles too high to overcome.

Moses was transformed by the glory of God.  When Moses came down from the mountain, his face shone because he had been talking with God.  The people, who had not had such an encounter, couldn’t handle the glory, it was too much for them, so they asked him to put a veil over his face.  But the people could see, they knew, that Moses had been in the very presence of God, and his life would forever be changed.  That is the effect of God’s glory in the life of man.

What’s fascinating is this: Moses, through all his encounters with God, never saw the Lord face to face, for no one could see the face of God and live.  To satisfy Moses’ longing to see the glory of God, God placed him in the cleft of the rock, covered him with his hand until he passed by, then took away his hand so that Moses could see his back (Ex 33:21-23).  Moses was completely transformed by the passing, veiled encounter with God, and everyone took note.

We, however, have seen a greater glory in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” John 14:9.  We all, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 “with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”  If you know Christ, you know the Father.  If you have walked with Christ, you have walked with the Father.  If Christ dwells in you, the Father dwells in you as well.  If, in times of worship, prayer, meditation upon the Word, you have gazed upon the face of Christ, you have seen the face of God.

Does the world know you’ve had this encounter with the glory of God?  Is there evidence in your life of having been in His presence?

Has His love transformed yours, recreated you, so that you love differently, sacrificially, redemptively, as Christ loved you?

Has His Spirit created in you a hunger for His Word, for His presence, so that, you can say with the Psalmist, “One day in your house is better than a thousand elsewhere.”  Do you long to feast on His Word, ready to hear it more and more, so that one hour in worship, twenty minutes of a sermon, are just the beginning?

Friends, one of the reasons the world isn’t drawn to God is because we have taken God’s name in vain.  No, I don’t mean we’re swearing and blaspheming God’s Holy name.  We take the Lord’s name in vain when we make it meaningless, powerless, empty in the eyes of the world.  The world isn’t drawn to God because we haven’t come down from the mountain showing that we’ve been in His presence, shining with the light of His worth, His glory, His wonder.   Maybe our worship, our devotion, our prayers, have been halfhearted and misguided, so that we haven’t encounterd God at all.  Maybe we have, but we’ve been too afraid to let the world know, so we veil His glory, hiding our lamp under the basket.

Friends, this cannot be.  The Church exists to make known the glory of God, to lift high the cross of Christ in proclaiming salvation from sin, to grow as a body in holiness through the power of God’s Spirit.  Such glory is the hearts true desire.  May we encounter the glory of God as we walk with Christ our Lord, so that the world may see His glory in us.