Living In His Presence
Living in His Presence: Choosing God Over the Promise
One of the hardest things a believer can do is truly live in the presence of God. Everything around us, from social media algorithms to workplace culture, is designed to keep us occupied and distracted. Nothing outside the walls of the church is designed to draw us closer to God. And if we are honest, sometimes even things inside the church can become substitutes for His actual presence.
What Does the Story of Moses in Exodus 33 Teach Us About God's Presence?
Exodus 33 opens in a moment of tension. Moses and the Israelites are camped in the wilderness, and God has just told them He will fulfill His promise and bring them to the land He swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But there is a catch. God says He will not travel among them.
To understand why this is so significant, you have to understand what came before it.
The Context: What Happened Before Exodus 33?
The Israelites had witnessed miracle after miracle. They saw ten plagues devastate Egypt while they remained safe. They watched the Red Sea split and crossed on dry ground. They saw the waters close over Pharaoh's army. They were led by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. These were not small things. These were undeniable acts of God.
Yet while Moses was on the mountain receiving the law directly from God, the people grew restless. After six weeks of waiting, they went to Aaron and said they needed something to worship. They melted their gold and made a calf, and then, remarkably, they called it the Lord.
They did not deny that God existed. They had seen Him work. But they replaced His presence with something they could see and control.
Are We Mistaking Our Idols for God?
This is a question worth sitting with. How many of us are working, sacrificing, and striving toward something we have convinced ourselves is what God wants, when really God simply asked us to wait?
Everyone worships something. Money, fame, knowledge, status. It is built into human nature. The question is not whether we worship, but what we worship. The Israelites were waiting for the revelation of God, not knowing it was already on its way down the mountain. Their impatience cost them dearly.
God told Moses to go down and deal with the people. He essentially said, "If I go down there right now, it will not go well." Moses descended, saw the chaos, and in his frustration, shattered the stone tablets God Himself had written.
How Moses Interceded for a Sinful People
What Moses did next is one of the most extraordinary moments in all of Scripture. He went back to God and interceded for the people. In Exodus 32:32, he says something so profound that he cannot even finish the sentence:
"But now, if you will only forgive their sin, but if not, erase my name from the record you have written." - Exodus 32:32 New Living Translation (NLT)
He loses the words. There is nothing he can offer that compares to God's mercy. He simply says, if you can forgive them, that is enough. And if not, take me too.
This is a picture of what Jesus did for us. He stood in the gap. He took our place. And God's response to Moses is a picture of His grace toward all of us:
"No, I will only erase from my record the names of those who have sinned against me." - Exodus 32:33 New Living Translation (NLT)
God does not erase Moses. He does not erase the people. He extends grace and tells them to keep moving.
God Fulfills His Promises, But He Is Not Always in Them
This is where the story takes a turn that should stop every believer in their tracks. God tells Moses in Exodus 33 that He will send an angel ahead of them, drive out their enemies, and bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey. The promise will be kept. But God says He will not go with them.
God fulfills His promises, but He is not always in them.
Think about that. How many people have chased a goal, reached it, and found it completely empty? How many leaders have climbed to the top of their field only to fall from that height in a way that shocks everyone? Could it be that somewhere along the way, they stopped pursuing His presence and started pursuing only the destination?
Moses Chose Presence Over Promise
Moses is standing in the middle of the wilderness with nothing around him. No water, no food, no family, no comfort. And God offers Him the promised land without His presence. Moses' response is remarkable:
"If you don't personally go with us, don't make us leave this place." - Exodus 33:15 New Living Translation (NLT)
He is saying, keep your promise. Keep the land. Keep the blessing. But do not take away your presence. I would rather stay in this desert with You than go to the promised land without You.
That is the posture of someone who truly understands what matters.
What Does It Mean to Live in His Presence?
Living in His presence means you refuse to settle for second best. It means you will not accept a counterfeit version of what God offers. It means your goal is not the destination but the journey with Him.
It is easy to become so focused on where we are going that we forget to ask whether God is going with us. As a pastor, the temptation is real every single day. Planning for growth, thinking about facilities, dreaming about the future. But what God keeps whispering is this: can you be more focused on My presence than the destination?
Look around at churches that are full of people but empty of His presence. A building full of activity is not the same as a building full of God.
Choosing Presence Over Promise in Real Life
Years ago, a decision had to be made between a dream job and staying in an unfamiliar city with nothing. No car, no family, no money, no guarantees. The dream job was everything a person could want on paper. Staying made no practical sense.
But staying meant staying in the place where God's presence was leading. And looking back, that choice produced a marriage, a family, friendships, and a calling that the other path never could have offered.
Moses said it plainly: how will anyone know that You look favorably on us if You do not go with us? The favor of God is not something you manufacture. It is something you receive when you stay close to Him.
What Happens When We Ask to See God's Glory?
Moses makes one more request. He says, "Show me your glorious presence." He wants to see the full weight of who God is.
God's response is tender and instructive. He does not say He will show Moses His glory. He says He will show Moses His goodness:
"I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose." - Exodus 33:19 New Living Translation (NLT)
Sometimes God's glory looks like God's mercy. Where should you be right now based on your choices? And where has God placed you instead? That gap is His goodness.
Why God Does Not Always Show Up the Same Way
God does not always show up in the way we expect. In 1 Kings, Elijah met God not in the earthquake or the fire, but in a still, quiet voice. In Genesis, God was in the fire that rained on Sodom. In Acts, He was in the earthquake that freed Paul. He shows up differently in every season.
The danger of tradition is not tradition itself. Jesus practiced tradition. Paul knew tradition. The danger is when tradition becomes a box we put God in. When we say He can only show up this way, with this song, with this instrument, at this moment. God moves when He is ready, and our job is to be ready to receive Him however He comes.
Moses Had to Move to See God Pass By
God told Moses to stand near the rock. He would hide Moses in the crevice, cover him with His hand, and let him see His goodness pass by. But Moses had to move to get there.
If you have been praying for God's presence and feel like you cannot hear His voice, consider whether you are still standing in the same spot. Sometimes receiving what God has for you requires moving to where He is calling you.
Like Samuel in 1 Samuel 3, when the voice of the Lord had not been heard in a long time and no one recognized it, the answer was simple. Eli told him to say, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening." Sometimes the most powerful prayer is just: here I am.
Jesus Is the Answer to Seeing the Father
Philip asked Jesus in John 14 to show them the Father. Moses asked to see God's glory. These are the same cry from different moments in history. And Jesus answered Philip with something that changes everything:
"Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!" - John 14:9 New Living Translation (NLT)
If you want to see God's glory, you go through Jesus. You seek His face. You cry out to who He is. Scripture promises that if you seek, you will find. This is not about getting the job or the house or the answer to a specific prayer. This is about seeking Jesus first, and trusting that everything else will follow.
Why We Never Give Up
Paul captures this beautifully in 2 Corinthians 4. He writes to people living under pressure, confusion, and suffering. And he says:
"That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!" - 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 New Living Translation (NLT)
Moses asked for glory. God gave Him goodness. Jesus showed up. And now, through Christ, we can experience His glory in our worst days, our hardest seasons, our most confusing moments. His glory is not reserved for the mountaintop. It is available in the valley too.
Life Application
This week, make a deliberate choice to pursue God's presence over your goals. That might mean spending time in prayer before you open your phone in the morning. It might mean sitting in silence and simply saying, "Here I am, Lord." It might mean letting go of a plan you have been chasing and asking God whether He is actually in it.
The challenge is this: identify one area of your life where you have been focused on the destination and ask God to redirect your focus toward His presence in that area. Then take one practical step this week to seek Him there.
Ask yourself these questions as you reflect:
- Am I pursuing God's presence, or am I pursuing His promises without Him?
- Is there something in my life that I have mistaken for God's will but is really just an idol I have built?
- Am I willing to stay in the wilderness if it means staying close to God, rather than moving toward the promised land without Him?
- When was the last time I simply said, "Here I am, Lord," and waited to hear His voice?
God's goodness is passing by. The question is whether we are positioned to see it.