Blown away

Does God ever just blow your mind?  In a good way.  In showing you just what He's capable of doing?  Yesterday was like that for us.

You know how there are different facets of life - your family, your friends, your community, your personal life, your job, your hobbies, your hopes, your dreams, etc.  It was like God just looked at Chase and I and said, "I want to show you my glory in every facet of your life."  He did that, you know, with Moses in Exodus 33.  It's one of those stories that's sometimes talked about, but maybe not as much as it should be.

In Exodus 33:12-23, (this is my paraphrase - check out the actual passage here:  Exodus 33) Moses is up on Mt. Sinai chatting with God about the 10 Commandments.  They kind of get through things and Moses is like, "God, you're really great and all, but you want me to lead these people, but I feel like I'm doing it alone.  You've said 'Moses, you're the perfect guy for the job.'  But I need more than that - teach me your ways."  And God responds, "Ok, I'll go with you and give you rest.  You can relax."  Then Moses is like, "You have to go with us, or else how will others know that we're your people."  So God's like, "Ok, Moses.  I get it, I'm going with you."  Then Moses, realizing he's got God's ear and God is responding positively to his requests, "Show me your glory."  Isn't that gutsy!?!  And God responds (presumably without missing a beat), "Ok.  But I'm so awesome that I will literally blow you away, so I'll keep you safe and let you see as much of my glory as your little-human-self can handle.  And it's gonna be crazy cool for you."

I remember reading the story for myself the first time when I was in high school.  And I thought, Holy cow!  (But not the golden-idol-calf kind.)  Imagine!  God just walking in front of you, but his glory is so huge, He can't even show you His face.  He has to hide you in a little crevice in a rock in the side of the mountain so that you can't see His face so that He literally doesn't blow you away with how awesome He is.  Wow!  I remember thinking, I wish I could see that.

In retrospect, that was kind of silly of me.  I may not literally have seen God's face, but thanks to Christ's sacrifice on the cross, I get to walk daily with my Savior.  He came to earth 2,000 years ago, beat the crap out of death (I mean like total annihilation, a blow out, death didn't have a chance), and left the Holy Spirit behind to help me have a relationship with Him.  That's crazy.

But that wasn't enough.  He does little things every day that, if I watch for them, show me how much He loves me.  I'm so spoiled.  And yesterday may just top all days thus far of "spoiling Steph."  It was the equivalent of Christmas morning, mixed with a Halloween bucket overflowing with candy, mixed with I-just-got-into-my-top-choice-college-and-they're-giving-me-a-full-ride-scholarship, mixed with I-just-had-my-daughter-and-I-love-everything-and-everyone-in-sight, mixed with [insert best experience ever here].  Yesterday, there was a point at which Chase looked over at me and said, "Is there anything else we need to ask for?  I feel like we're getting everything we want! ...I should go buy a lottery ticket!"  No, Chase.  No lottery ticket.  :)

I want to interject here that I'm not one of those Christians who thinks that blessings are only the good things that happen to us.  Blessings, in my definition, are things that happen to us that drive us into closer relationship with the Lord, and those kinds of things are often difficult as we go through them.  My family and I burried my older brother 13 years ago - a blessing in my life because it forced me to decide if I was willing to trust a God I didn't/don't understand.  I NEVER want to live through that again.  Ever.  But, that doesn't mean that God didn't bless me through that circumstance in my life.

Having said all that, I'm also not one of those Christians who wants, in any way, to overlook the positive blessings God has showered down on me.  And yesterday we got drenched; it rained cats and dogs in this house; we're still dripping-wet, soaked-to-the-bone, lavishing-in-the-deluge of the blessings around here.

You may be wondering what these blessings all are, and I desperately want to share them with you.  But the time isn't quite right for that (and no, I am NOT pregnant with triplets, Sarah).   (Just want to get that assumption squelched right now!)  I will share, as soon as I am able, the details of all God is doing in our lives right now, of how He is hiding us in the cleft of a rock on a mountaintop so we can see His Glory passing by us, walking with us each day.  But for now, I just needed to testify to God's Greatness - it's so cool that He lets me see Him work (at least when I choose to watch for it).

Has God done amazing things in your life, things only He could do?  Big?  Small?  You know the kind of things I mean - the kind that you look at and go, "Wow.  That's crazy!  How did that ever happen?"  But then you know exactly how that happened - it happened only because Someone was watching out for you, and it's just so obvious if you'll only take a second to reflect. I always think of my button story when I think of things only God could do.  It was a small thing, only a button, but only God could do that.  You can read about it here:  The button story.

If you have a great story of God's provision/blessing/working in your life, will you share it with me via comment here, message on Facebook, or email?  I'd love to hear about it.  Sharing offers encouragement to those who hear and gives glory to the Only One who really deserves it.  And I promise, I'll share more details about yesterday as soon as I can!