At The End Of My Life

Moses walked with God for forty years after God called him at the burning bush until his death. He was not perfect, but the bible makes a point of noting he was a man of humility. (Numbers 12:3) He consistently interceded for the children of Israel, who despite witnessing miracle after miracle, continued to turn their backs on God. God often used Moses personally as an instrument to perform these very miracles. (Exodus 14, 17, Numbers 20) Out of all the men and women of God in the bible, Moses had arguably one of the most intimate relationships with God. In Exodus 33 Moses asks to see God’s glory, as in He wanted to physically see Him. God allows Moses to see Him from the back as He warns no one can see His physical face and live. In Exodus 34 Moses descends from the mountain after receiving the 10 commandments. When he came down, he was unaware his face was shining from being in God’s presence. He actually had to put a veil over his face.

Here is a man that lived a full life and God seemingly held back very little from him. However towards the end of Moses’ life he says something so profound to this very same God. In Deuteronomy 3:24 Moses says “ ‘O Sovereign Lord, you have only begun to show your greatness and the strength of your hand to me, your servant. Is there any god in heaven or on earth who can perform such great and mighty deeds as you do?” Despite everything Moses saw in those 40 years walking with God, he had an attitude of just tapping the surface of the depths of God.

I am so challenged after reading that scripture. I look back on all the amazing things God has done in my life and honestly I don’t always appreciate them. What God did for me 10 years ago feels like a distant memory of some other person. How does this happen? How do I get to a point where the miracles of God become ‘old hat’ and unless He does something ‘new’ I get bored? I know my attitude isn’t isolated because that was the pattern of the Israelites how many thousands of years ago. Blessing God one moment and then complaining the next. Seeing God part the Red Sea before their very eyes and then griping they have no water to drink a few days later. Maybe the key to it all is humility. It is no accident the bible points this attribute of Moses out. The bible never gives personal details of people for no reason.

The dictionary describes humility as “a modest view of one’s importance”. Walking in humility is never thinking more of yourself than you actually are. I can be the CEO of a company, but I am no more important than the janitor that cleans the toilets. We all have roles and they are all important. It's being humble enough to realize without the janitor, the CEO’s business suffers. Moses’ statement to God was bathed in humility. No matter how many times I experience God’s presence, there is always more to Him. No matter how many times I’ve seen His undeniable power, there is always even greater power I haven’t seen. There are so many layers to God that boredom should never be one of the stops I get off at. Maybe there needs to be more prayers of humility before asking God for more signs and wonders.

Micah 6:8 says “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” God asks me to incorporate humility into my daily walk. Humility becomes a path I choose. Proverbs 11:2 says Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom”. Humility is pride’s counterpoint. Pride is a “know it all” attitude and humility says “I’m teachable”. God rewards humble people with wisdom and wisdom usurps head knowledge. We all have encountered smart people lacking wisdom. Wisdom is not determined by the amount of letters behind one’s name. When Solomon asked God for wisdom to govern the people he understood this principle. (2 Chronicles 1) Having the title of king gives me the right to lead, but wisdom will make me successful as I lead. If you want wisdom in your life, walk in humility.

I am challenged by Moses. He led a strong walk with the Lord. However, he had an attitude of only beginning with God; just scratching the surface. The key to this revelation was humility. Humility realizes that as far as I’ve gone with God there is so much further to go. God has more layers and depths than I can ever imagine, but I want to spend the rest of my life not being satisfied with the last one.