Secret Words for the soul

Just a simple thought today about how we are wired/connected to God. The language I would use to describe my relationship with Christ is that I am a follower of Jesus. That he leads me, I follow, and that is how I am generally found in Him.

I was reading this morning in Exodus and came across this: "Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.'" Basically a whole massive group of people just left a land where they were in slavery and forced to live one way...and now they are living in another land and figuring out just how to live. God came and tested them so that they would feel fear in relation to knowing God. The goal was that this fear would keep them from sinning.

I don't know what scares you, you don't really know what scares me. Fear is an internal reality most of the time. So while God wanted the massive group of people to feel fear, He knew it would reflect differently in each person...to work towards the end goal. Perhaps the fear for one person was death...and yet for another it was to be cast away from everyone else...and for another the fear of never living up to their potential. Either way, this big event had 1 purpose: that the fear of God would individually manifest itself in each person so they would be directed in how they live.

Jump to another time in history, and God comes down in flesh as Jesus so that "we may have life, and have it to the full." He spends some time with a small group of people, but then he sends "the counselor" who will help direct us and show us how to live and follow Him. The method of delivery is so different from earlier in history, but I am struck how they both lead to the same conclusion.

In the days of Moses, God put the fear of God in people to help them follow Him. The goal was that they would have the best this life has to offer.

In the days of Jesus (which we are still in), God woo's us to live a certain way and follow Him, but the pathway for this is love...so that we would find the best that this life has to offer.

I think it is cool how this works, because these seem to be such contrasting plans, yet our God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. So what is the commonality through all this?

I believe God wants to reveal deep, personal and intimate things about Himself to us individually so we would desire to follow in His ways. This has always been true. In the days of old, He did this by inviting His people to see and understand His power and authority so that they would have a healthy fear...which could also be called reverence. Today, He does this by first inviting people to see another side of His character: His love, grace, acceptance and forgiveness.

These qualities have always been true of Him. AND, it seems that He chooses to reveal different pieces of His character to each of us, depending on what is going on within us. He has secret words for our soul, so that we would know without a shadow of a doubt that He is who we think He is. He speaks in such deep and personal ways that we can't always articulate it, but simply recognize He is true, He is good, He is trustworthy.