Out of the many places to hear God, I think wastelands for me are easier (not pleasant but I’ll explain). It’s harder to remember what was said so clearly without any distractions when we’re back in society and there’s so much re-entry and noise and then getting back to life as usual which is full of noise and people- how different from just sheep a burning bush and the stars.
On my missions trips as a teen they always said these are mountaintop moments but don’t forget what you’ve learned here when you go back down into the valley. Another thing I thought interesting reading this passage again was that God called to Moses twice. He didn’t have to, but they always say if it’s repeated (like Jesus saying truly, truly I tell you,,) pay attention.
It makes me think God called to Moses twice is already signifying who He was. His deity by calling Moses by name, and also not a generic greeting. Plus there’s the option that calling Moses twice was once for his “heart’s ears” and the second his “mind’s ears” if I could explain it in such a way.
And I wonder if Moses had changed his name there because he fled there after murdering the other Hebrew so was this God calling him out by his true name twice?
So to recap, do we remember what’s told us in the wilderness, when God calls us twice by our names…..does this not boil down to both Emmanuel & His faithfulness? I tend to forget or just downplay both. Despite how many times He calls me, reminds me. But thankfully He understands how human I am, and He actively calls me again and again every morning, all throughout the day and night just to show me how He is working on my behalf. How He calls me because He wants to actively have a relationship with me.
How many times do I talk to my mom or friends throughout the day? Maybe it’s not everyday, other days it’s multiple times a day. But each time it’s because I want to share with them, check in on how they are or because I need to talk. God wants to do that with me all day every day. But He also needs me to stop and process and listen to Him; to give Him room to breathe and speak into me. Through my heart’s ears and my mind’s ears too.
I tend to forget or more downplay the specifics of God’s faithfulness and that He’s always with me.
But even though I’m trying to keep a journal I do think that God wants to show us how He goes with us and is faithful everyday….just as much as it says “give us this day our daily bread” and Jesus is the bread of life. So wouldn’t we be asking for Him to reveal himself and his attributes again each day not only because we may tend to forget it but because Jesus knew we’d need it to get through the day?
And on that it seems like that’s to be said in the morning but it says forgive us our debts as we forgive…but it says not to go to bed angry or still holding a grudge. So maybe that’s there if we weren’t able to, if that internal strife and anger is still there despite, maybe we need to keep chipping away at it again in the morning and/or say it in advance? I know volumes could/have been written about that prayer but as my Godfather said once, we could spend a life studying that one prayer and never get out all that there is to get out of it
Maybe that’s why sometimes I need the wilderness of least distractions or it takes having moments that draw me away from the crowds to rise early in the morning and go up to the mountain and speak with my Father as Jesus did.
