ROOTED RENEGADE

We all know what it is like to feel underserving of God’s love, grace, and mercy. Many of us feel that at least once or twice a week (some more). Some never feel like they will measure up to the standards that they have heard preached over and over again. Churches tend to fill the gap with a sinner’s confirmation of worthlessness instead of the abounding love of a Holy God. It’s sad when people actually leave God’s meeting place worse than when they came in! My friend’s that should not be.

Exodus 32:7-16 Moses & The 10 Commandments

Moses is such a great example of the Father’s love for one of His children who struggled with mistakes. I had read the story of Moses and the 10 Commandments before and never picked up on the “love” God showed Moses until I was writing this (thanks to the Holy Spirit’s promptings to write). You see, we hear plenty about the 10 commandments and how Moses went up on Mount Sinai and received all the commandments from the Lord. But in Moses’s righteous, fiery anger towards an impatient people, he no sooner got down the mountain from receiving the “testimony of the Lord”, than shattered the tablets of stone. Yes, that part we hear in Sunday school and often times in church sermons too. This passage of scripture shows us where the Lord tells Moses to Him and go get control of his people because they were already acting a fool and turning away from the Him. They were partying and really throwing down with Aaron. It didn’t take much to convince him to turn his back on God. They were singing and dancing with a golden calf and giving praise to a figure, a little god, something that could not represent them in the heavens. Nor could this idol they had created help them with any of their life problems. But they chose to praise it like their life depended on it!!!

Now let me just say this: Do not act like we do not all fit this mold of people! We are all stereotyped into an Israelite in some form or fashion. Oh, I get – not you! I thought the same about myself. We would never create a “golden calf” and “worship” it right? Okay, maybe we wouldn’t melt all of our precious jewelry down in the shape of a calf and sacrifice animals to it. Probably not what most Christians would do in the 21st century. But let me ask you this: How much time do you spend on Facebook? Instagram? TikTok? Snapchat? Netflix? Hulu? Roku? Amazon Primein’ it? Instacart scrollin’ for deals since the pandemic hit and you feel like its just too much to go out in public for too long?

How often do you really sit with Jesus? Are you spending more time worrying what relationship He is going to fix than trying to fix your relationship with Him?

The Israelites couldn’t let Moses get down the mountain before their “necks became stiff”. Too much time in the wrong posture will do that to you. We tend to think that going ahead of God will get a prayer answered faster, that promotion to come quicker, our prodigal children to start acting right again, etc. Really, it won’t. It makes us tired, worn out, frustrated, and often times we fall back into ‘old patterns’ of behaviors because we lose focus of the nature of God and His Sovereignty.

While the Israelites were punished for their sin, there is something so profound to note about the character of God with His people and with Moses – His patient, fatherly love. Exodus 34:1, the Lord (Yahweh) says this: “Cut out for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke”.

First, the forgiveness alone in that one verse makes my heart melt because the Holy God of Israel loved His Son Moses enough, His people enough to not just tell Moses, “Hey look man you blew it the first time, so deals off. Thanks but I’ve chosen someone else for the position. Thank you for your service in my kingdom and all your hard work. I hope you have great success in your future endeavors.” UH NO! Yahweh showed Moses exactly what fatherly love, grace, and mercy was and how incredibly beautiful it is. I so missed this depiction of love in God’s character all these years. Mainly because of the lack of fatherly love I have experienced in my own life. It’s amazing to see such a display of God’s affection towards His children. Moses really made this monumental mistake out of his anger. Yet God in His love chose to show compassion and empathy and forgiveness towards Moses, giving us an example to go by in our own lives. Exodus 34:6-7, Yahweh continues to tell Moses about his character and that while sin won’t go cleared in the guilty, He is certainly close to those He loves.

So where are you today? Are you struggling to experience the love of God in a fatherly way? If so, is it because of the relationships between you are your earthly father? Is that relationship broken or non-existent?

Are you willing to let God be the restorer of your heart and come into that broken place so that it can be healed?

If so, pray and invite the Holy Spirit into the space in between you and your Father (or you and your offenses and pain). Ask forgiveness for holding onto the bitterness and anger for so long and release your earthly father from offenses so your Heavenly Father can come in and heal your broken heart and bind up your wounds (Psalm 147:3).

Psalm 147:1-3 “Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. the Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.”

@b3autifullyr3deemed