Shine On -- He Said
By: Eddie Jones
"The LORD make his face to shine upon you” – Numbers 6:24
How long can you stand in the presence of God before you grow bored? I lasted twenty minutes. Finally quit because my knees hurt from all the kneeling. Back ached from leaning hunched over. Trust me. This worship business takes physical stamina, something I can't even spell much less find on the aisle of a drug store.
I didn't mean to stumble into the presence of God but then Moses wasn't hunting for a lunch buddy when God appeared at the cookout. Jonah ran away, Gideon hid. I was taking a nap in the cockpit of the yacht.
I had a sailboat once. Sold it. Bought another. Sold it, too. This pattern continued for almost two decades before I realized I was addicted. I figured the cure was to go sailing on another friend's sailboat. He had a yacht. A yacht is any boat that's bigger than mine. So I was napping on his yacht.
We were a day north of the Bahamas, a hundred miles west of Florida and one longitude away from a stalled tropical storm squatting over the Gulf Stream. We were sneaking around the eastern edge of the storm, trying not to wake it.
Sun out. Seas calm. Sails tucked away. Diesel engine lulling us to sleep.
Then from the bow I heard my son call for me to grab his camera. We'd plowed through a pod of porpoises or dolphins or whatever they are. I can never tell the difference. I passed him the camera and then lay on my stomach, reaching down, trying to touch one. It rolled onto its side (the mammal, not the yacht) and looked at me. No kidding. My hand was less than a foot away. So close, in fact, that we made eye contact. I waited for it to swim away.
But it didn't. It swam beside the boat. In a while another one took its place and for the next twenty minutes the pod of porpoises or dolphins or whatever they were played with us. Then the rest of the crew grew bored and strolled back to the cockpit. I stayed, waiting. Trying to touch one. Wondering if I slipped under the lifeline and grabbed the fin if it would pull me along like Flipper.
Then I too grew tired, sat up and broke eye contact. The pod swam off. The water became calm again. I pounded on the hull but they dind't return. Ever. We did not see another porpoise or dolphin or whatever they were the rest of the trip.
I know God returns when we blow Him off but I wondered how many times He's been standing right in front of me. Enjoying my company and I've grown bored and wandered away.
Silence during my devotion, where's the fun in that? Long cryptic passages from Paul that make no sense so I finally close the Book, thinking, there's no way I can meditate on that. Staring a list of folks who need prayers and thinking, but I need to get to work. So I get up and wander off.
God, I'm sorry if I bailed on you. If you hear me banging on the hull will you come back? I can't promise I'll stay the whole time but I'd like a little more time with you.
I Can't Get Enough
by Cindy Sproles
"The LORD make his face to shine upon you” – Numbers 6:24
There’s nothing better than meeting God on the mountain. When I need to think, to sort things out—I find myself perched on a huge rock that forms a shelf on the side of sheer face of the mountain. It overlooks the river. Rock, river, mountains and God. The simple things are still the special things. God meets me in the cool of the evening on that rock. In my mind’s eye I see Him leaning back against the rock face, legs extended, ankles crossed, hands locked behind His head, listening to the sound the wind and water washing over his handiwork.
When I sit on that rock I, too, can hear the wind and water and I sense Him near, nudging me over to His side of the rock. The breeze that whispers through the leaves reminds me of the many prayers I lifted up and I imagine each leaf is an answer. Some beyond my grasp, others fallen and never noticed because of my too busy life. And still calls me close, telling me to lean back, rest and listen to His voice.
I never tire of sitting on that rock with God. Lose patience, yes. Get too busy to go sometimes, yes. But I never tire of the beauty of His tapestry of trees, ravines and rolling hills. And I long for Him to look upon me, to pat me on the shoulder, for I, too, am a part of His creation. His best part. He said so. I was made in His image. Made after Adam. God saved the best for last.
Moses met God on a mountain. He even got to see God’s backside pass by. But it was the shekinah glory of His face that Moses remembered. The glow of His holiness. I don’t see God’s glow. I only hear Him whispers as he rustles the trees, but the reflection of His glory bouncing off the sun and moon are enough for me.
To race through the day without spending even a small moment to admire the work of His hand is to say, “You are not enough, God, give me more.” As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord and pray that His face will shine upon us for if we have that, we have it all. I can’t get enough.
Christian Devotions
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