I was recently struggling with a situation that made me feel desperate to hear from the One who could see further down the road than I could. I felt like a soldier who needed specific instructions from the commander detailing what I should do and how I should do it. I guess what I was needing the most was assurance that God was with me even though I felt fear of the unknown future.
During this time, I came across the story of Joshua when he had just succeeded Moses as the new leader of the children of Israel. But Joshua was about to do something his predecessor had never done. He was about to lead the people of Israel into the Land that God had promised to all their forefathers was theirs to take. So here was Joshua walking in a new position and into a place he had never been. I love what happens next- God shows up! But not in the same way He had revealed Himself to Moses. He reveals Himself to Joshua in a way that was personal to Joshua. The captain of Israel’s armies met the Captain of heavens armies and received the affirmation he needed that God was with him. (See Joshua chapter 1 and chapter 5:13-15). Directly following this encounter, Joshua courageously fulfilled what he was called to do.
This is not the first time that God personalized His encounters with people. David was a shepherd who had spent many years with his father’s sheep. When David was in sin with Bathsheba and had not yet repented, God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke him in a way that David would understand. He used an analogy of a thief stealing the only beloved sheep of a poor man in order to slay it as a sacrifice. David could most certainly experience anger for someone doing such a thing and it was then that God could reach his heart by saying, “You are that thief”.(See 2 Samuel 12). But David knew God in so many personal ways that He said of God, “You have searched me and You know me…You are intimately acquainted with all my ways”.- Psalm 139:1,3.
One more example that rises above all others in regards to how God reveals Himself in a very real and personal way is through the sending of His own Son in the form of a man. Yeshua, the Word of God, was made flesh and He lived among His people. (See John 1:14). Could there have been any more personal way for God to relate to man than by becoming one? That is mind boggling to me.
But this is the God we serve. One who is so holy, so perfect, so above all, yet His desire is for us to know Him personally. And the more we know Him, the more we can in turn reflect His nature and character to others in a very real and personal way. He came through for me in the midst of my struggle and I know that because He is no respecter of persons, if you seek Him, He will come through for you too.
This article originally appeared on CBN Israel, April 25, 2018, and reposted with permission.