No Limits

“Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.”  Exodus 19:23

Before I started writing, I started praying, but never once did I pause to consider if I could or if I should.   As God’s children, we often take the gift of instant access for granted, but such was not always so.  

“Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it.’”(Ex 19:12).  God was coming down, but His people didn’t dare come near.  The consequence for disobedience? Death. “Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death”(Ex 19:12).

That’s tough-sounding stuff for a God whose intense passion and power had not long ago delivered these very people from brutal slavery, but the words and the warning remind us that God’s holiness is so intense, His perfection so profound that only absolute purity is safe in His presence.  

The barricade was erected for the Israelites’ protection.  Though the awesomeness of a smoking, trembling, trumpeting mountain ablaze with God’s glory was captivating, the people could not come close on their own.   No matter their desire, their sin put them in danger, so they had to stay away.

Until the cross.  Until the day God ripped Himself apart and ripped the curtain in two.  Until the fathomless grace of Calvary eliminated the limits and obliterated the barriers, and God said, “Come.  Stay back no longer; draw close now.”  And draped in Christ’s rightness we run to His arms.“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence”—not in ourselves but in His salvation.

Never again wonder, “Could you?” or “Should you?” but always wonder that you can.

Carried Away

“You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”  Exodus 19:4

Sometimes God simply carries us.

If you’ve ever known you couldn’t go on, yet, somehow, at the end of the day you had made it through, you know what I mean.  If you’ve ever been in a situation you couldn’t solve, and, yet, as circumstances unfolded and decisions followed, you saw the answer in action, you know what I mean.  If you don’t, you will, so just file this for the future, for all of God’s children whether facing difficulty in life or the finality of death will eventually (and some of us often) reach the place where we are out of strength, out of skill, and out of steps.

It is in those times that we are carried. “In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste.  He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft”(Deut 32:10-11).

These words poetically describe God’s dealings with the Israelites during their deliverance from Egypt.  Since His people were helpless against the hardship and hatred of slavery, He overpowered the enemy, picked up His own, and carried them away to salvation and safety. “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself”(Ex 19:4).

The strong, broad wings of an eagle beautifully depict God’s wonderful, wide grace in which we are securely carried through our struggles and onto which we fall when we fail. As hope in God renews our strength, we can walk, run, and often even soar(Isaiah 40:31), but sometimes, in the worst of times, we are simply graciously and ever so gently carried.

When you can’t go on, God carries.  When you fall, God catches.  Why?  To bring you to Him.  To bring you back to Him.  Because He wants to. Because He wills to.  Because He loves you.  

And that should be way more than enough to get us all carried away!

Take This Advice

“Listen now to me and I will give you some advice.”  Exodus 18:19

Advice is a lot like cough syrup—it’s easier to give than take.  But learning to listen and heeding what is helpful is a valuable skill, no matter the source of counsel.  

For Moses, the suggestions started when his father-in-law showed up.  The Israelites were several weeks into their cross-desert march when Jethro arrived with opinions on what Moses should do and how he should do it.  He watched as the Jewish leader dealt with disputes from dawn till dusk, handing down decisions and making peace between friends and foes—case by case, one by one, all day long.   

At suppertime Jethro spoke up. “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone”(Ex 18:17)  A weary Moses yawned and nodded his assent, but Jethro wasn’t about to say good night!  Instead, he continued on, “Listen now to me and I will give you some advice”(Ex 18:19).  

Really?  Jethro, an uninvited in-law with no experience in leading large groups to new lands, was offering unsolicited, untested advice?  Yep, but his guidance was good.  “Split the work and share the burden. Let others handle the simple stuff.  You only deal with the difficult. ^‘If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied’”(Ex 18:23).

Moses could have rolled his eyes and blown Jethro off in arrogance—after all, God had chosen HIM and not someone else for the job—but, instead, Moses humbly and wisely “listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said”(Ex 18:24).

 

Learn to listen to the advice of others.  Toss what’s trash.  Hang on to what’s helpful.  Make sure you don’t get rid of some good just because you’re grumpy.  God speaks through many people to guide us in His will, and sometimes the simplest solutions and clearest directions are suggested by someone else.  We just need to be humble enough to hear and wise enough to heed.   

Now that’s advice we all need to take!  (And that’s better than any cough syrup!

(For the record, I am beyond blessed with the most amazing and incredible in-laws on earth and am continually amazed at the wisdom and grace they pour into my life.  I want to thank them again for their patience with me these many years and for their guidance and grace as I’ve grown.  Yes, I know used the word grace in both of those sentences, and, yes, that’s because I’ve needed much and they have shown me even more.  Their advice and their visits are welcome at any time—invited or not!)