Chinese Food and God
Please show me your glory. Exodus 33:18
You will not be surprised to learn that, as a child, I loved the local Chinese food buffet. When I say that I loved Chinese food though, I am not saying that I wanted to know more about the Chinese culture or who made my food. When I say that I loved Chinese food, I mean to say that I loved how it made me feel when I filled my belly with it. I loved consuming it.
I often have this approach to God. When I say I love God, I often do not mean that I want to know Him more, obey Him more or grow my faith in Him. I mean that I love what He does for me. I give Him credit for all of the good things I have in life, so, I love Him. Thank you, God, for giving me stuff.
Today’s passage revealed something about God though, that should upset my concept of love. In it, Moses asked God to reveal Himself. The Bible, from beginning to end, tells of how God created us for a profoundly personal relationship with Him. He longs for us to seek Him and He rewards in measure with our seeking. When Moses sought God, God was pleased to reveal Himself. If we love God, we too, will seek to know Him more.
God draws near to us when we seek Him. If Moses had not asked, God would not have shown Himself. When our prayers are self-centered, asking for God to give us stuff, we reveal the shallowness of our faith. It is not wrong to find God in our need, but if we never move beyond, God help me and give me stuff, then we are stuck in an immature faith that imagines God to exist only for our pleasure.
Our love, like my love for Chinese food, is often just self-love masquerading as true love. God longs for us to seek Him though. If we love Him, we will daily turn from our own desires to pursue Him. God, I truly want to know you. Please show me your glory.
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Earlier in this chapter, Moses is asking for assurance in that God will go with him as he leads the people, it seems Moses wanted something tangible – to see God, not just follow His command by “blind” trust. Sometimes I feel I get too caught up in the “show me” part that I don’t rely on my faith enough to truly know that God’s got this. I want to see it, and I want to see it in a timely (and obvious) fashion! But if you think about it, I can see God’s glory anytime I want to, and this is where the personal relationship comes in – without truly knowing God, I won’t be able to fully see His glory.
And bringing it back to the Chinese Buffet – do you think you would get a deeper satisfaction from it if you knew about the Chinese culture and the hands preparing it rather than just being “given” it?! 🙂
Hmmm… Not sure. I’ll probably have to try and learn more and then eat there several more times to figure it out 🙂
I think God was pleased with Moses request though. He probably does get tired of “prove yourself to me”, but I think He wants us to want to see and know Him.