Becoming Established Part 5

In my last post I looked the idea of ‘being’ rather than doing and the first verse I quoted referred to one of Moses experiences with Yahweh.

¹²  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.” Exodus 24:12 (NKJV)

When Moses went up he sat in Yahweh’s presence and heard nothing for six days, then on the seventh day Yahweh spoke to him. I doubt we will have that experience with Him on a mountaintop, however we can apply the principle. We draw near to Him, look to His heart and wait for Him to reveal things as we simply rest in being with Him. If we look to scripture what are some things that came out of this ‘being?’

Moses received the instructions for the tabernacle, and more specifically the most important item in it, the Ark of the Covenant. David’s experience was similar.

¹¹  Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the vestibule, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat; ¹²  and the plans for all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, of all the chambers all around, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries for the dedicated things; ¹³  also for the division of the priests and the Levites, for all the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and for all the articles of service in the house of the LORD. 1 Chronicles 28:11-13 (NKJV)

We know from the Psalms and other writings that David spent much time in Yahweh’s presence and much of it in worship. This passage tells us that in one or more of these encounters the Holy Spirit unveiled to David the plans for the tabernacle. What about Paul. I think we tend to view Paul as a man of action, which he was. Yet what drove his actions?

If we study Paul’s life (see Acts, 9, 13-14 and Galatians 1 for example) we see that following his confrontation by Jesus on the road to Damascus as soon as he was able he began to preach. He then he withdrew and spent years being with Jesus and receiving the gospel by revelation. From there he began to minister again and later he and Barnabas were sent out as apostles in Acts 13. This direction and release also came in the context of worshipping Jesus and fasting. Paul is another example of receiving direction by focusing on being with Jesus rather than doing for Him. 

What of others? Have you ever heard of George Washington Carver? Carver was born a slave during the Civil War in the US and rose to international prominence as a scientist. Among other achievements he created hundreds of products from just the peanut. What is often not known is that he credited his discoveries to his faith and the Lord revealing things to him. If you look him up on the internet and don’t include something about his faith you will likely see a list of his accomplishments. Yet he credited his relationship with the Lord as his source of inspiration. He learned the importance of spending time with his Father, the true source of wisdom and knowledge and that produced his scientific expertise.  

I believe that when we learn as a habit to simply sit in His presence and cultivate an interactive relationship that wisdom and revelation are then activated. That is why Paul prayed what he did for the Ephesian believers and by extension us (Eph. 1:16-21). He knew we needed a spirit of wisdom and revelation, not a single encounter. I wonder what He wants to give us as we sit with Him?

NOTE – in my next post I will look at the pattern of a lack of revelation from Isaiah to the NT and the implications for our lives today.