I am a nurse and one of life’s greatest joys for me has been the privilege of caring for my patients in their hours of deepest need.
As the sunset days of their lives are seen on the horizon, often the mind has a hard time moving away from a situation causing stress and anxiety. In coming alongside of a patient, I often used the approach of redirecting, the shifting of their attention to something more pleasant…. moving away from the unknowns, into the world of truth and reality. “Look, Mabel, your favorite dinner is here. Chicken pot pie! And your cup of tea…”
It is a beautiful thing to watch the stress lines on their worried faces relax and be replaced with a bit of a smile, and their eyes shine again… as they focus on the truths of the moment.
Thousands of years ago, an ordinary man was out taking care of his father-in-law’s sheep, just minding his own business. All of a sudden, an angel showed up, surrounded by flames, in the middle of a bush! If that wasn’t off the charts terrifying enough, the bush wasn’t burning up at all. Whaaaat was going on? As he got closer, God spoke to him out of the bush. He called him by name… and then gave him a job to do. Nothing much… just that he was to gather and lead all of the Israelites, thousand of them, out of Egypt where they were being mistreated, into a new homeland… a land flowing with milk and honey.
Moses… this humble and amazing man… tried to reason with God. He tried multiple angles…
“Who am I…?” and “Suppose….?” and “What if…?” and “I have never…” and “I am slow…” and “Why, Lord…” and finally my favorite… “Please send someone else.” Oh, I hurt for this guy! Don’t you feel his pain? It’s like, “COME ON, Lord….”
But Moses put his “yes” on the table… and started on a journey that would go down in history. Little did he know that his next few decades would make the fire in the bush look like a walk in the park. He watched God turn his staff into a snake. He learned what plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock death, boils, hail, locusts and child death looked like. He watched God carve a dry path through a sea… and then close the water again to cover their enemies. He saw God provide springs of water for them when they were thirsty. He looked on as God rained down bread from heaven because they were hungry. He witnessed God bring water out of rock… and was in front row seating to see God conquer their enemies. He met God on a mountain and received the Ten Commandments… and stayed on the mountain forty days and nights. He was entrusted with the detailed instructions for the building of the Tabernacle… and the Ark of the Covenant… and was given the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
But wait … are you kidding me? While he was still on the mountain, the people became just a little bit impatient… figured he wasn’t coming back… and told Moses’ brother to make them an idol to worship instead of God. And he did. Oooh, God was angry. Really angry. Moses went to bat for them… begging God to let them live. But when he came down from the mountain, he was furious as well at what he saw. He threw down those tablets of stone, smashing them to pieces… and grabbed their golden calf, burned it in the fire, ground it up and mixed it with water…. and made them drink it. He then cleaned house… and many died that day.
It’s little wonder that Moses had a special place, a tent, to retreat to… to speak with and hear from God. While he was inside and God was speaking to him, a pillar of cloud would stay at the entrance. The Presence of God was so real in that tent…. and He would speak to Moses like a friend speaks with a friend.
Then Moses would go back to the people.
But on this particular day…. Moses was ready to have a little chat with God. He said, “You’ve been telling me, ‘Lead these people’ but You have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways…” Moses was basically saying, “Ummm, God… thought you and I were tight. Can You please fill me in a bit on what You’re up to here?”
God’s response? “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
God…. the Perfect Redirector… gentle Father…. wraps His arms of love around His faithful servant Moses, and reminds him that all he needs is His Presence. That….. brings rest.
No answers…. no explanations…. no reasons….
His Presence on the journey…. and perfect rest.
“Dear loving Heavenly Father…. please continue to be the Perfect Redirector in my life… turning my attention away from the anxiety of unknowns…. toward the unshakable truths found in You. Through Your touch, help me revel so completely in Your Presence that the unexplainables fade away…. and I rest. In Your Beautiful Name…. Amen.”