Cleft

Do tight places challenge you? On our flight home from Mexico, we were in the very last row on the plane and it was … yes, tight. Things like that never seem to bother Mr. Bill. Good enough, I guess, because I was “bothered” enough for both of us!

Have you ever asked God to reveal His glory to you? Moses did, “Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” (Exodus 33:18). The Glory of God – Isaiah saw it and fell to his face and the angels couldn’t help but declare it from the heavens. Oh, to have but a glimpse of it! God’s reply to Moses’ request: ”And He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you My Name ‘The Lord.’ … But … you cannot see My Face, for man shall not see Me and live … There is a place by Me where you shall stand on the rock, and while My glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My Hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away My Hand, and you shall see My Back, but My Face shall not be seen.” (V.19-23). A cleft is an opening caused by a split in a rock, and that would be the place from where Moses could glimpse the passing of God’s Glory. There are times God puts us in the cleft, and it is not always with the most pleasantness of this life. Whatever our circumstances and whatever His reason, there is a purpose. There in the cleft, we are safe and always in His care. Among the many things we can learn there is to trust and rest as He does His work in-through-around us. Sometimes [I feel] God puts me in the cleft to get me out of the way so He can do His work. Oh, the amazingly glorious things we see as God works in our lives through the pain, the heartache, the sorrow. All the while, He covers us there with His Mighty Hand of protection and mercy. I don’t care to be on the last row of an airplane again, but the cleft doesn’t sound so bad when God’s Glory is nearby!