My rest

“The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”Exodus‬ ‭33‬:‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This is an interesting verse. Moses, and God, are having trouble with the Israelites God told Moses to take from Egypt to the Promised Land. God had previously told Moses, “I am not going with you as these people are a stubborn and stiff necked people and if I go ai might just kill them all”. Not a good pronouncement! Moses countered this with, “well if you won’t come with me I’m not going )my paraphrase) these are Your people.” God relents and says he will go and give Moses rest.

We tend to think rest is freedom from agitation, if you follow the story you find Moses had nothing but agitation from the people, and true to His word many people died at the Lord’s hand for their sinful behaviour. Therefore, what did God mean when He said He would give Moses rest?

Perhaps it was rest from God saying He will not go, but perhaps, because Moses was a man of presence, he found rest in the midst of chaos. I choose to believe this.

Last week several things went wrong: my travelling buddy was refused her visa to China and so the whole thing has to be cancelled; I received notice of another storm coming against my previous business and my right arm has been giving me curry from a previous injury. However, my God has been ever present, I can rest in Him.

To my joy I am learning worship songs in Nepali. I am making good headway with my studies and breaking through barriers for my refugees.

My God is my joy and strength. Amen! He is my rest and peace!