Exodus 33:21-22 "The Lord continued, 'Look, stand near me on this rock. As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.'"
Our Christian walk is like an ongoing mountain climb. We are always climbing higher and higher as we grow through the process of sanctification.
Sanctification: the state of being sanctified; the state of growing in divine grace as a result of Christian commitment after baptism or conversion
We often rest on plateaus as we stop to learn deep truths or lessons but then we set off again climbing higher and higher.
The winds of life blow and buffet us. The higher we climb the more they seem to increase in intensity. Often we feel tossed about by the things life throws at us.
Psalm 18:2 "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety."
We see here that just like with Moses, in our opening passage, God will protect us in those storms. There is always a crevice to hide in if we are walking in obedience and faith.
Colossians 3:3 "For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God."
Oswald Chambers in "The Hidden Life" taken from My Utmost For His Highest states, "The Spirit of God testifies to and confirms the simple, but almighty, security of the life that “is hidden with Christ in God.” Paul continually brought this out in his New Testament letters. We talk as if living a sanctified life were the most uncertain and insecure thing we could do. Yet it is the most secure thing possible, because it has Almighty God in and behind it. The most dangerous and unsure thing is to try to live without God. For one who is born again, it is easier to live in a right-standing relationship with God than it is to go wrong, provided we heed God’s warnings and “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7)." ["But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin."]
When we think of being delivered from sin, being “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18), and “walk[ing] in the light,” we picture the peak of a great mountain. We see it as very high and wonderful, but we say, “Oh, I could never live up there!” However, when we do get there through God’s grace, we find it is not a mountain peak at all, but a plateau with plenty of room to live and to grow. “You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip” (Psalm 18:36)."
Whether we are climbing through the lessons of life, resting and learning on the large plateaus, or hiding in a crevice, we can know for sure that we are safe in our Father's loving arms.
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