Can I ask God to go with me?
How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.
Exodus 33:16, NLT
My favorite thing about Moses is how many questions he asked God. He didn’t hold back. And this question he asks God is one of his best. If this group of formerly enslaved people out of Egypt was going to be God’s chosen people, if he—who’d lived as an outcast for most of his life—was going to be chosen, how would anyone know?
Moses already knew the answer. He wanted God’s assurance of the one distinction that could make people who’d been outcasts and enslaved special: God’s presence.
We can call ourselves flawed—remembering our past and feeling sure everyone else sees us as flawed too. But is God with us? If so, we can go forward with absolute confidence.
God’s presence can be asked for, just like Moses boldly requests. We can make the same petition.
ACT
Where are you headed today? Have you asked God to be with you? Moses couldn’t yet know God was with him always, but we do. God made that possible through Jesus, Immanuel, God with us.
pray
God, your presence is unmistakable. Let me know and celebrate that you offer a way for you to go with me.