“Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. And when Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.”
Exodus 34:29-30 (RSV)
Moses had just spent 40 days on Mount Sinai, chatting with God and receiving the commandments. On the 41st day, he was physically changed because his face was glowing so much that no one would dare come near to him. He also glowed inwardly because the bible describes Moses as, “more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3)
It’s not surprising that spending time in the actual presence of God, has a humbling effect on a person. Since God is love, spending time in His presence is naturally humbling because a person comes away with a greater awareness of how much God really loves us unconditionally.
My own takeaway from this story is that God leaves His glow in anyone who spends time in His presence. Whether it is for a few minutes or a for hours, He puts His glow in us. It isn’t a visible glow, shining from our face like Moses, but an inner glow. We’ve all met people who have an inner glow about them.
Jesus invites us to abide in Him so that we will be fruitful. Abiding in Him is like the time we spend on our daily mountain top, chatting with Him in prayer, reading His words in scripture and listening to His Spirit speak to our heart.
We also come away from a mountain top, glowing in our own special way. We are all special simply because God is especially in love with each one of us. When we come to realize how much we are loved by Him, it leaves a mark, and that mark is our inner glow.
Just as Jesus was sent to reveal His Father’s love to us, He sends us out to comfort, forgive, encourage and listen to others. As He does for us, we do for others, because that’s how the inner glows works within us. There is an inner glow in all people who trust in God.
I am seeing that inner glow in a lady resident at the Nursing Facility, who I once wrote about. I will call her Joan to protect her privacy. She is the lady friend of Jim, the war hero. She is also the one who gave me money to buy Jim some pants, when his government benefits suddenly stopped two months ago. Joan talks to Jim and to anyone else who will listen, about her faith in God.
Last week Joan was sent to the hospital after having vision problems for some time. Tests revealed an eye disease that could progress to total blindness. It was a shocking diagnosis and a lot for her to think about, though she is currently being treated with steroids.
In talking to her, she has a genuinely positive perspective for such a dire prognosis. She insists that she’d rather lose her sight than her sense of hearing, since she enjoys music so much. She is mentally preparing herself for a future of possible blindness, but is also confident that Jesus is with her in whatever her future brings. She has that inner glow, despite a complex past history and a serious new diagnosis.
Someone once said that any mess can be turned into a message. Joan is a person who made a mess of her past life and talks about it openly. She had a career as a surgical nurse, but became addicted to drugs. Her heroin addiction resulted in a divorce, and her two daughters chose to live with their father and to this day, have nothing to do with her. She admits to making bad choices, but her spirit of humility and honesty about her past, led her to make the best choice of her entire life, giving her life to Jesus. Even in all of her brokenness, she knows that Jesus loves her and it’s never too late to come to His fountain of abundant grace and mercy.
She is 74 years old and holding on to her faith and I believe her story isn’t over yet. Her humility and inner glow still shines through, pointing others to the love and mercy of Christ. I pray for her healing, for a future reunion with her daughters, and that her inner glow will keep shining through the darkness and touch all who know her.
Lord, help us to abide in you daily, to always be aware of your abundant love for us, and to let our inner glow keep shining upon all those we meet. Amen
