Back to the Wild: Mt Rainer

But the only way the only way we're going to get closer to God is if we get closer to God. It doesn't do us any good to see the mountain from a 100 miles away, but it does do us some good to be on the mountain, to be drinking of that water, to be in the cloud. More often in scripture than not, god is a little bit hidden. God is a little bit quiet. [00:43:47] (50 seconds)  #GetCloserToGod

You can't see the top of Mount Rainier if you're climbing the slope, but that doesn't mean you're not on the mountain. That doesn't doesn't mean you can't see the mountain. And I think sometimes when we talk about God, we miss that. It's like we wanna see the fullness of God. And in some ways, to see the fullness of God is to be really far away from God. To see the fullness of God is to be so far away that you're not affected or impacted. [00:41:11] (36 seconds)  #SeenUpClose

And Susan asks, well, is he a safe lion? And mister Bieber responds, of course, he's not safe. Of course, he's not safe. He's a lion. But that doesn't mean he's not good. Mount Rainier is not a safe place to be. They put up warning signs all along trail. The the towns around are kind of living in with this reality of this volcano in their backyard. That doesn't mean Mount Rainier is not good. Mount Rainier is very good. [00:39:14] (36 seconds)  #GoodNotSafe

But that golden idol wouldn't have been made if the people had climbed the mountain. If they had gone to the place where God is, if they had tried to get closer to god, that golden calf wouldn't have been built. We wanna see god and sometimes we wanna see the the mighty fullness of God's power. And sometimes we wanna see the sweet, quiet streams flowing down the side of the mountain, bringing life to everywhere. [00:42:58] (48 seconds)  #CloserPreventsIdols

It's this weird paradox. We want God to be very clear. We want God to be very direct. We want God to be very loud. If we want if if God's gonna ask us to do something, we want god to be clear and erupting and shaking the ground and visible. But we really also want god to kind of just be there when we need god, when we have free time for God. It's two sides of the same coin, and Mount Rainier does a good job of illustrating this for us. [00:35:10] (35 seconds)  #GodLoudAndQuiet

And God's like, you know what, Moses? You'll be okay. And Moses says, you know, I will be okay if you just let me see your face. If you let me see the fullness of your glory, that's all I need to go back down this mountain and do the thing that you've called me to do. And God's like, you know what, Moses? I'm gonna let you see my glory, but it's for me to give compassion on the people I wanna give compassion to. It's for me to give mercy to the people I wanna give mercy to. This is the prerogative of god. [00:37:17] (35 seconds)  #DivineMercyChoice

God's saying, you know, you don't under you won't understand. You can't understand the fullness of god. But I will walk by you. I will let you see my glory. So Moses, hide yourself behind a rock and I'm going to pass by you. You can't see my face because if you see my face, you'll die. But I'm going to give you the fullest measure of what I can give you. [00:38:01] (36 seconds)  #RevealedInPassing

Sometimes we have to take a step back so that we can see the whole picture. But no matter how we're looking, no matter where we're looking, God is there. God is speaking to us. God is here. And the most important thing about revelation, the most important thing about seeing god is looking for god. God is here. When you leave this place, god is there. When you're in your car, god is there. When you're going to bed at night, god is When you wake up in the morning, God is there. When you're speaking to someone who really annoys you, God is there. [00:46:43] (47 seconds)  #LookForGod