I Want To See God

By William R. Cunningham
April 6, 2008

Scripture reading: Exodus 33:12-23

Introduction

Life is hard.  It has its ups and downs, but for the most part we struggle from day to day to earn a living, do the right thing, and to find peace and happiness.  It would be nice that becoming a Christian would bring about peace and happiness.  However, becoming a Christian does not guarantee such things.  Instead it guarantees a place in God’s Kingdom for eternity.

There are times that we need a boost of encouragement.  We find that we can’t find peace and happiness and that we could use a break every now and then.  Sometimes we simply need someone to tell us that everything will be alright.  However, there are other times when we need much more.  We desire a sign from heaven.  We want to know that God is still with us because sometimes it really seems that he is far away and we are fending for ourselves.  It would be nice if we would hear God from heaven telling us that everything will be alright or that he will be with us.

We deal with the challenges of life much differently when someone is with us than we do if we were alone.  However, sometimes—perhaps many times we need more than companionship.  Sometimes we desire to see a miracle or some other sign from God that he is still with us and that everything will work out well in the end.  Sometimes we just want to see God and talk to him.

Moses had these feelings with regard to God’s presence with the Hebrews while they were in the wilderness.  They were just delivered from Egypt and Moses was on Mount Sinai for forty days while God was giving him the commandments.  The people however built a golden calf and began to worship it and give it credit for delivering them from Egypt.  God told Moses to get away and that he would not be with the people (Exodus 33:1-3).

Let’s take a few moments to discuss the desire to “see” God, i.e., to obtain confidence from God that he is indeed with us.

Assurance of God’s Presence

Exodus 33:12-17 (NKJV) -- {12} Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ {13} Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” {14} And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” {15} Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. {16} For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.” {17} So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”

Moses wanted assurance that God would be with him and the Israelites.  He didn’t want to continue into the wilderness if God would not be with them.  God told Moses that he would be with him and that he would have rest.  How can we know that God is with us?  How can we obtain rest?

One of the toughest things that Christians have to deal with is that life is not necessarily any easy because of Christianity.  We face the same challenges that everyone else faces.  However, we have something that no one else has.  We have the hope of salvation—the culmination of our redemption.  There are still times when we would like to have more than just faith.  Sometimes we want to see in order to believe or in order to have more confidence.  Sometimes we want to see simply for guidance.  But again, there are no magic formulas for Christians.  I believe that we can truly rely on divine providence to operate in our lives.  We can know that God is always with us and aware of what is going on in our lives.

Psalm 139:7-12 (NKJV) -- {7} Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? {8} If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. {9} If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, {10} Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. {11} If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; {12} Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

So God is aware of what is going on in our lives at all times.  Why then doesn’t he do something about it?  That is the million dollar questions.  “If God is all powerful, then why doesn’t he help me?”  We forget that God’s perspective is much different than ours.  For example, Jesus suffered and died.  Why didn’t God come and rescue Jesus?  Well for one thing it was the purpose of Jesus to suffer and die for our sins.  Why didn’t God save the martyred apostles and Christians?  We don’t know the answer to that.  The fact is that he didn’t, but that he still loved them and cared for them.

Another thing that we have to realize is that life is more than the limited time that we have here on earth.  Consider what Paul said.

Romans 8:18 (NKJV) -- {18} For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

This life may have many pains, but “tomorrow” will always be much better.

To See God

Exodus 33:18-23 (NKJV) -- {18} And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” {19} Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” {20} But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” {21} And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. {22} So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. {23} Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”

This is very interesting because God responded positively to Moses’ request.  Moses wanted to experience God in a much deeper way than God had already revealed himself.  Again we have to consider that Moses was raised in the Egyptian home and his experience with God would have been new.  A person more experienced in their relationship with God may not need such assurances as the plethora of life’s experiences would have been sufficient assurance.

Can we see God today?  Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Jesus is the brightness of God’s glory.  Jesus told us that seeing him is seeing the Father (John 14:9).  We cannot physically see Jesus no more than we can physically see Martin Luther.  We were not alive when they walked the earth.  Everything we have about God and his kingdom, including Jesus Christ, comes to us from the word of God, i.e., the bible.  Therefore, the bible needs to have a high level of importance in our lives because it contains the message from God.

We can obtain much more revelation from God pertaining to our own lives by reading and understanding the bible.  I’m not talking about reading the bible to find an answer to a specific issue in your life.  I’m talking about reading the bible to develop a “picture” of God and his kingdom.  The bible reveals God to us.   We learn more of what God is like by reading the bible in the same way we learn more about a particular person by observing them in normal everyday situations.

Ask Him!

What have you asked God for lately?  I don’t mean as part of your prayer ritual either.  I mean what have you really consistently asked God for.  There are two passages of scripture in the bible that really helped me to understand the concept of asking God and receiving from God.

2 Samuel 12:15-17 (NKJV) -- {15} Then Nathan departed to his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. {16} David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. {17} So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them.

Notice how David prayed to God!  However, the child still died seven days later.  David got up and moved on with his life afterwards.  Notice what he said to those who asked him about his response to the news that his child was dead.

2 Samuel 12:22-23 (NKJV) -- {22} And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ {23} But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

David admitted that he didn’t know what God would do and therefore he prayed earnestly.  Perhaps God would have mercy on him.  We also see David’s assumption that there is an afterlife so even though the child was dead—he still lived in the afterlife.  Another interpretation of that is that everyone will eventually die.

Luke 18:1-5 (NKJV) -- {1} Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, {2} saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. {3} Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ {4} And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, {5} yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”

Here Jesus was teaching us that we should always pray and not give up.  Do we always pray?  Ask God and get some encouragement from that.  Persist in praying to him about what troubles you or what concerns you.  Pray to him about decisions that you have to make.  Persist in your prayers.  I believe that you will see God, but not in the way that you may want.  We may want to see God physically, which we know is physically impossible given the enormity of God and the fact that he is Spirit.  However, we can see God by noticing how he operates in our lives.  Trust him and lean on him.  Be aware of him in your life and then you will  see the LORD sot to speak.