Ordinary Time 
Pause
For many of us, knowing God is a matter of the mind. But really knowing God is always a matter of the heart, and that’s because God is not merely an idea we agree to, but is first and foremost an experience we share in.
This is why today and every day we must prepare ourselves to receive the gift of God before we ever say anything about God.
Listen
Moses said to the Lord, “Look, you’ve been telling me, ‘Lead these people forward.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. Yet you’ve assured me, ‘I know you by name and think highly of you.’ Now if you do think highly of me, show me your ways so that I may know you and so that you may really approve of me. Remember too that this nation is your people.”
The Lord replied, “I’ll go myself, and I’ll help you.”
Exodus 33:12-14
Think
While some people love taking risks and doing new things, most of us would rather just stick with what we know and not venture too far outside of our comfort zones.
Moses was no different. When God asked him to lead the people of Israel, he said yes, but he didn’t really want to, mostly because speaking in public stressed Moses out and made him anxious. Though Moses knew God was with him when he spoke, he still wanted reassurance from God — he wanted to know for sure that he was capable of succeeding as the leader of God’s people. To which God said, “I’ll help you.”
Moses was not alone, and neither are we. Each of us, every day, is being asked to do the next thing, to take the next step, to tackle the next challenge, and like Moses, we wonder if we have what it takes to succeed. However, we can know that the One who has called us into the unknown is the same One who promises to help us along the way.
Chris Robertson
Pray
God, sometimes life can get overwhelming, so please be with me and help me to know that you’re always by my side so that I don’t miss out on any opportunities to do what you’ve called me to do. Thank you for your help. Amen.
Go
Near the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Whoever seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door is opened.”
So may each of us keep asking and searching and knocking.
May we keep yearning, reaching, wanting, and watching for something more.
And regardless of what we’re doing or where we’re going, may we come to every moment with the expectation that God wants to know us, and we can know God.
