“Then Moses said, ‘I pray You, show me Your glory!’ And He said, ‘I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious…’”  ~ Exodus 33:18-20, NASB.

God’s glory is revealed first through every goodness He gives. Next, He says we can know His glory as God personally proclaims the name of the Lord before us. We touched on the friendship with God that increases as intimacy grows through learning His names, which express His character. Later in this series we will cover this aspect of God’s glory in greater detail, revealing the appreciation and the power such intimacy brings to our relationship with Him, as well as the faith, strength, hope, supply, and partnership produced. Today we look at God’s next instruction to Moses, revealing the glory of God we see in life.

“… I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious…”

Grace is often defined as God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Grace couples with God’s mercy to supply all our need as His chosen people, even, and especially, when we don’t deserve it. Any supply we have for any need met is God revealing Himself to us. Even the smallest incidental that makes us smile or wipes a tear of fret and fear away is God reaching out to touch our lives with His presence. The trick is to realize God’s grace at work in our midst.

Too often credit for God’s supply in life goes to that which seems more obvious, that which touches our physical senses. We credit our jobs or our own perceived strength, failing to remember that God’s grace gives both. The laughter of a small child brightens our heart without our realizing God’s hand of grace in bringing that joy. On we could go, listing ways God blesses by grace and we fail to realize Blessing’s source.

Every good comes from God because of His grace toward us. His loving hand reaching to our current deprivation ministers every essential. What joy there is in recognizing God’s grace at work in our lives, not only meeting our every true need, but also equipping us as ministers in partnership with Him in the grace He gives.

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; as it is written, ‘He scattered abroad, He gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever.’ Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God” ~ 2 Corinthians 9:8-11.

God graciously meets our need, equipping us for the good He desires we accomplish. God gives to us so that we have supply for giving. We cannot out give God. Every good use we make of His supply is seed sown that will produce a harvest to His glory. As wise stewards of the manifold gifts of God’s grace to us, we partner with God in making His glory known, producing thanksgiving to God. The better we get at realizing God’s grace-supply and using it as seed, the more we find His storehouses open to our need.

Through God’s grace, we are made to be His ministers according to His gift of grace working through us in the power of His supply, thus participating with Him, becoming one as His light in the revelation of Glory (Ephesians 3:1-7; 3:20-21).