What's Your Sinai?

Last week, we talked about all of the things vying for our worship and attention and discussed ways to ensure that we are reserving our worship for the One that truly deserves it. I hope that you took some time to do a self-check and see if there are things in your life that you have inadvertently begun to worship other than God. Now that we have dealt with identifying the things that we are giving our worship to besides God, let’s look at how we can fully immerse ourselves in total worship of God. How can we make spending time with God a lifestyle? 

For me, the answer lies in the Old Testament at a place called Mount Sinai. 

Mount Sinai was a very significant place referenced many times in the Old Testament. God called to Moses from the burning bush at Mount Sinai (Exodus 3). Later, Moses climbed Mount Sinai and encountered God, who gave him the 10 Commandments there (Exodus 19-20). Elijah fled for his life and ended up at Mount Sinai, and it was there that he heard God speak to him in a whisper (1 Kings 19). Do you notice a pattern? These men encountered the Lord and heard His voice at Mount Sinai. 

Mount Sinai was a place to experience God and receive revelation. Mount Sinai was a place of communication between God and His people. It was a place of intimacy. It was a sacred place. God led the Israelites out of captivity to Mount Sinai where He provided them with instructions for right living. It was where God told them what following Him looks like. Mount Sinai was where God told Elijah what his next steps were. Mount Sinai is a reminder that God still meets with us, His people. It is also a reminder that God meets with us in obscure places, not just exquisite palaces and temples. 

So, where is your Mount Sinai? Where do you see God clearly at work? Where is it that you go to encounter God and hear His voice? Do you have a place in your home where you go to meet God? A certain chair or closet perhaps? Or do you encounter God when you are out in nature, walking or running through God’s creation? 

I have a closet in my house where I go to spend time with God. Can I be honest with you? I haven’t been spending a lot of time in my closet lately. I have still been spending time in prayer and spending time in scripture, but I have been doing those things in places other than my closet a lot more often the past few months. I felt guilty about this for a while. I mean, my closet was my Mount Sinai, and I was not spending as much time there as I had been or as I felt like I needed to. It was the place I went when I wanted to meet with and spend time with God. It was my go-to spot to sit and listen to the still, small voice of God, and I had basically walked away from it. 

I was thinking about this one morning as I was walking and praying, and I realized something. Mount Sinai itself was not holy. The Lord dwelling on top of Mount Sinai made it holy. All of a sudden, I had a revelation. If that was true about Mount Sinai, maybe it was also true about me. Maybe, it doesn’t matter so much where I am. If God lives within me, then maybe, just maybe, my Mount Sinai is within me as well. If my Mount Sinai is within me all the time, then I can go there anytime I like and hear from and experience God, no matter where I am physically. I don’t have to feel guilty about not going to my closet as much as I used to because I carry God within me all the time wherever I go. I can tap into that place within me where God dwells anytime I like. I can spend time in His presence no matter where I am. I can hear His voice no matter what I am doing. This was an incredibly freeing realization. 

I read a book years ago called, “The Deep Place Where Nobody Goes,” by Jill Briscoe. It is an amazing book, and I highly recommend it. You can find it HERE or HERE if you don’t mind buying used (Abebooks.com is one of my absolute favorite sites). It is not very long and is a very easy read. I loved how the author talked about being able to escape from wherever she was and go to that place within her where God dwells. She had this ability to just go there at a moment's notice no matter where she was or what she was doing. I remember reading this book and longing for the ability to do that. Now, I am working on doing just that. Before I would think, “I need to go home and spend some time in my closet tonight” when something big and heavy was going on. Now, I know that I don’t have to travel to my Mount Sinai because my Mount Sinai travels with me all the time. 

Wherever your Mount Sinai is, I would encourage you to go there daily. Now, more than ever, we could all use at least one thing in our lives that is consistent. As things continue to change rapidly in the world around us, we need that one thing that never changes. We need God’s presence in our lives. We need to know that we can still run to Him and that He will always be there waiting for us with open arms. We need to have that place where we can go and just be still at the feet of our Lord. We need that space to be quiet and listen to the still, small voice of our God. He still meets with His people. He so desperately wants to hold, comfort, listen, and talk to us. Find your Mount Sinai and go meet your Daddy there. He is waiting for you.