Blinding Glory

I had to drop my husband off  at the airport this morning. Going back home I wanted to bypass the rush hour traffic and took the toll road - a straight shot east. The position of the sun on the horizon made the drive feel like a blind ride at 70 mph on glowing liquid directly into the sun.  It was nerve-wracking. The only reason I didn’t miss my exit was because I’ve taken this road so many times I knew where it was without needing to see it.

When I finally got off the ramp and turned north, the shadows of the buildings provided instant relief.  The clenched fingers around the steering wheel relaxed and the muscles around my neck and shoulders loosened. The blazing light was now behind me, and I could see again – the shapes and the colors, the road and the cars in front of me.

I thought of Moses in that moment, asking, pleading, begging God:

Please, show me Your glory. I want to see Your face!

Sometimes I find myself doing the same.  I feel like I need to see God. I need more... something more...

Show me Your glory, God! I need to see You!

You don’t know what you are asking, kiddo… it’s like asking to stare straight into the rising sun driving east on 528. You would go blind.  … But I’ll show You the tiny reflection of My glory in the dew on the grass…. in the faces of people going to work… in  the gentle shadow of My hand…and you will know that I am good and kind, gracious and compassionate… And you will be satisfied with My goodness…

But He said to Moses, ‘You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live! But there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.’ Exodus 33:20-23

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature Hebrews 1:1-3

 ... and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. Revelation 1:16