My Tent In Meeting

I was blessed to hear a great sermon tonight on a passage of scripture I do not ever remember reading before. I am sure I've read it at some point, but the beauty of Bible study is that you can come across something and it seems brand new and fresh to you. This is because the Bible is the Living Word of God- it is alive! The sermon was from Jeff Williamson of the Henryetta Church of the Nazarene. Their first Sunday night Xalt service was tonight and I was able to attend. I am so glad I did. Jeff gave us all a profound message tonight that challenged me, and because it did, I felt I should write about it and challenge others. 

The passage tonight was Exodus 33: 7-11

"Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the Lordwould go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lordspoke with Moses. 10Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. 11The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.

The main verse that Jeff wanted us to focus on was verse 11: "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend." Jeff talked about the Children of Israel not having an option to be in the presence of God. That only a select few in the Old Testament would get that honor. Moses was one of them. Moses had a relationship with God that was like a close friend, intimate. It wasn't until Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and tore the temple veil in two from top to bottom that made it possible for anyone to be in the presence of God and have a personal relationship with Him.

So the challenge for me came when Jeff asked how much time do you spend in the presence of God? Not how much time do you spend in church worshipping or listening to the Word, but in daily life, how much time am I spending in His presence? Jeff gave a great illustration of a person calling a friend on the phone and dominating the conversation- never letting the friend you were calling get a word in. And then suddenly saying goodbye and hanging up without ever giving them an opportunity to respond to you. Is this sometimes how we treat God when we rush through a prayer to Him? I'm not saying that there won't be times that we will have short prayers, but my conviction tonight hearing this was it has been too often lately. When have I been able to get my bible out and take time to "listen" to what He is saying through His Word.

This morning, I heard a TV pastor say that we need to quit rushing. That we need to intentionally slow down and take.. more.. time. He asked what might happen if we knew we had a meeting with someone at 6:00 PM and we arrived 10 minutes early and spent that 10 minutes praying for the meeting: the person we were meeting, the situation that would be discussed, for God to be present in the meeting. If we took time to pray beforehand on things like that, what a difference it would make in how we approached life.

God has given me great opportunities in the last few months, and I am grateful that I am able to recognize them. I want to make the most of them and I feel tonight He showed me that time with Him will help me prioritize time with everything else. If I let my busyness dictate my schedule, I will surely miss blessings that He has waiting for me. I could miss instructions and leadings that could bring others into a personal relationship with Him. In short, I could miss out on a lot that He has planned for me.

So, I am challenging myself this week to spend more time in His presence. More time in His Word, more time in prayer. Intentionally slowing down and praying before I go before others to meet with them, and praying that He will bring me to the place where His presence is. It should not be hard for me to find for the Bible says I am the temple of God. So really to me this means I have the tent in meeting inside of me and can go into God's presence "whenever"- God is not the one who's busy. He is always there for us, whenever we call on Him, whenever we need Him. So patiently waiting, He is there.

I hope you find yourself in His presence this week in the most common places: your kitchen when you're cooking, your car while driving to work, your bedroom as you get up in the morning, your bathroom as you take a shower. Isn't it awesome that we can literally be in God's presence any time, any where? We need only to seize the opportunity and make the time- He's waiting right now.