Before You
Exodus 20:18-19 ESV
Exodus 20:20 ESV
Psalm 139:7-12 ESV
2 Chronicles 16:9 ESV
Hebrews 1:3 ESV
Luke 1:37 ESV
Sometimes it’s difficult to understand the mind of a child and why we remember some things and forget others.
When the human brain is developing we can only see glimpses of what is to come. When I was a child two movies I watched had a lasting impact on me.
The first movie was The Wizard of Oz. While it may seem strange to some, I was terribly afraid that Dorothy was lost and couldn’t find her way home. Then the scene with the flying monkeys in the movie made me terribly afraid. I hated those monkeys. I’m not sure why but to this day I cannot watch The Wizard of Oz or any horror movie. It’s interesting that I’m not afraid of seeing monkeys in a zoo. The end result of that scene was that I was left with a fear of dark wooded places outside.
Since I grew up in a metropolitan city, dark wooded places were few and far between so I didn’t have to be concerned about it.
The second movie that had a big impact on my young mind was The Ten Commandments. I love everything about that movie. My favorite part is when Moses was on the mountain. I was fascinated, but not afraid. I loved (love) the thought that God is powerful. That scene had a huge impact on me.
Here’s the strange funny part…as an adult I know even if I went into a dark wooded place at night by myself, God is more powerful than any animals lurking about.
Do you see what I mean about the mind of a child?
I interpreted Dorothy being chased by flying monkeys as being terribly frightening but I interpreted God’s power I saw on the mountain as being even more powerful than anything I would encounter in a dark wooded place.
Check and checkmate.
God wins…from childhood I’ve known that God is so powerful I do not need to be afraid of dark wooded areas because God will protect me.
In Exodus 20:18-19 we read, “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”
In scripture the sound of the trumpet, the barreling smoke and lightening, and the sound of the trumpet frightened the children of Israel.
They were so frightened, they were promised in Exodus 20:20, “Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”
In this case, God did not intend for the people to be afraid. Instead God’s intention for the children of Israel was that they would know the power of God so they would turn to God instead of turning to evil.
That’s exactly what the Ten Commandments movie succeeded in teaching me as a child.
I remembered that God is so all powerful there is nothing on earth that is more powerful. In addition to that, as a child I knew that God is everywhere so I do not need to be afraid.
I memorized Psalm 139:7-12:
“Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.”
God is all-present (Omnipresent).
2 Chronicles 16:9a tells us, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”
God is all-knowing (Omniscient).
Hebrews 1:3 tells us, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
God is all-powerful (Omnipotent).
God is all-present, all-knowing, and all-powerful. According to Luke 1:37, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Today’s Spiritual Practice is: Nothing Impossible
Give your requests to God. Rely on God’s power to help you.
In God, Deborah