He Lives In the Midst of the Fire

Sometimes I feel an overwhelming need to reread the story of the 10 commandments. I know, coming from someone who believes that we have moved from the age of law through to the age of grace, it seems weird that I can be obsessed with the 10 commandments. What I find that I like about the story is that it's black and white. The Scripture is black and white about what you can't (or aren't) supposed to do. Clear. Distinct. Black. White.

As I was reading the story in the book of Deuteronomy, I continued reading as Moses gave his speech to the Israelites. In chapter 5, Moses brings the Israelites together and reads to them the 10 commandments. He talks about the covenants that the Lord made with Israel. He talks about how God was with the children of Israel. The Scriptures talk about how the Israelites saw the power of God. One verse stuck out to me in this particular chapter - verse 24 - "And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth". What a testament of God's power. This verse was profound for me.

What I mostly identified with in this verse is that the Israelites say that they heard the voice of God out of the midst of the fire. I think about that in terms of my own life and the "fires" that happen in my life. There are times when I feel like I am definitely going through the fire. It doesn't have to be a big fire - like a major catastrophe or life crisis - but a circumstance or a group of events that make me feel like I'm going through a small fire and trial. I know that as a Christian, the expected response from me when I'm in this type of situation is that I'm supposed to praise God and try to see His glory in the midst of the fire. I know that's the expected response but sometimes this is very hard for me. I don't feel like the Israelites - I feel like I can't hear God out of the midst of the fire. The reason? I'm not listening for it. I'm too busy trying to figure out how to quench the fire on my own. The problem with this is exactly what verse 24 is talking about (to me, anyway). The Israelites saw God's glory and heard Him out of the fire. God was alive to them in the midst of the fire. That's what God wants for me. He wants me to understand that He is alive and that He can speak to me out of the fire.

As a self diagnosed control freak, this is amazing to me and goes against my grain. I don't want to always wait to hear the voice of God in the midst of the fire. I want to extinguish the fire by all means necessary - meaning by my own means - and try to solve the problem on my own without God. What He wants for me, as my Abba Father, is to step back, look at the fire, observe His glory, listen for His voice come out of the fire, and know that He lives.