Valerie Rae Hanneman
Exodus 33:17 “So the LORD told him, " I will do what you have asked, because I am your friend and I am pleased with you." (CEV)
There was a man who was walking down the beaches of Mexico when he tripped over an ornate bottle half hidden in the sand. He dug it out and - just for a lark - rubbed it. To his great surprise a genie popped out. “I have been in that bottle for 2,000 years,” the genie exclaimed, “I am in a hurry to see how things have changed - so you only get one wish.” The man thought for a moment and said, “I have always wanted to see Hawaii - but I am terrified of flying. I wish that you would build a road to Hawaii so I can drive to it.” “Are you crazy!” The genie shouted, “That is almost impossible! Do you have any idea of what I would have to do to accomplish that? Wish for something else!” “Okay,” the man agreed, “My wife says that I don’t understand her - so my wish is that I would understand my wife.” With a sigh, the genie responded, “Do you want two lanes or four lanes on that road?”
If you were suddenly given a wish by a genie what would you wish for? Riches? Health? True love? Power? Three more wishes?
Moses was in a situation very similar to this only he wasn’t with a make-believe genie, he was in the Presence of God, the God who had visited the plagues on Egypt and had parted the Red Sea.
Moses was talking to God in the Meeting tent just after the incident with the golden calf. God was so angry at the people that He told them to go to the Promised Land, but He wasn’t going with them. He said, “You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you!” Moses (that same guy who was to afraid to talk to Pharaoh) was arguing with God about it, telling God that if He didn’t go with them - there was no use of them going. When God agreed that He would go with Israel to the Promised Land, Exodus 33:13 records Moses’ two requests (or wishes?). It says, “If You are pleased with me, teach me Your ways so that I may know You and continue to find favor with You. Remember this nation is Your people.” This was when God agreed to do what Moses asked and said to Moses “Because I am your friend.”
Moses was then confident enough in his position with God that he made one more request - the most audacious request of all. What do you think Moses asked for? Did he ask for a chariot pulled by 4 horses because all this walking in the desert was killing his back & feet? Did he ask that his feet & back be restored? Did he ask to be made King of Israel? If I was Moses I think I would have said, “Listen God, these people are driving me crazy - all the time whining that we should have stayed in Egypt, complaining about the food, nagging about the water. I just don’t understand them! I spent 40 years with sheep - them I understand! Would You please turn these people into sheep so I can get them to the Promised Land without all this fuss and bother, then when I get them there - turn them back again.” No - Moses didn’t ask for any of that. Instead he made the most unbelievable request possible - something that nobody on this side of heaven had ever done. In verse 18 Moses said, “Now show me Your glory.” And God showed him as much of His glory as He could without His glory killing Moses.
The requests that Moses made of God reveals the desires of his heart. He wanted to know God more intimately and continue in God’s favor, he wanted God to remember His people, and he wanted to see God’s glory. His requests were all centered in his relationship with God. And God was so pleased with Moses’ requests that, not only did He grant them, but He said to Moses, “I am your friend.” He did not say, “You are my friend” which would indicate that the friendship was more from Moses to God, nor did He say, “We are friends” which would indicate that the friendship was equal. He said, “I am your friend” indicating that the friendship was more from Him to Moses.
When I asked you what you would wish for if a genie were to grant you a wish - what was your answer? And what did your wish revel about the desires of your heart? Was your wish centered on you - or centered on God. I asked a friend this question as I was preparing to write this devotional and they told me what they would ask the genie. After the first joking response, I got a second - more serious - response. When I told them about the theme of this devotional they said, “Well, I would have chosen something different if I had known it was God!” It made me wonder if that meant that had they known it was God they would have made a more “religiously correct” choice? But because it was a genie...........................
What do you wish for? And would your wish cause God to say, “I am your friend and I am pleased with you”?
LORD God, I want to be closer to You, I want to find favor in Your eyes. I want Your glory to shine in me and through me. I want You to call me Your friend and to be pleased with me. Show me Your ways.
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Posted by Valerie at February 25, 2005 07:57 PM