The other day on one of my deep dives into Scripture, I came to the story of Moses in Exodus 33, and when I came to these words, something completely unraveled in me.
“Show me Your glory.”
This was a man who had witnessed the power and glory of God in ways most of us will never fully imagine. He stood before a burning bush. He watched God bring His people out of Egypt. He saw the Red Sea split wide open and walked across it on dry land. He watched manna fall from heaven on a daily basis and followed the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. Moses literally lived surrounded by the evidence of God’s presence.
And yet, when God told him in verse 3, “Go up to this land that flows with milk and honey. But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way,” Moses’ response was immediate:
“If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”
It caused me to realize something I hadn’t seen before. Moses had become so beautifully accustomed to walking with the Lord that the thought of continuing without Him was unbearable. The destination no longer mattered if God wasn’t going to be there with him. He had learned that there was something far greater than reaching the Promised Land, seeing another miracle, or receiving another provision. He had discovered the treasure of living in the presence of God.
And then just a few verses later is where he said,
“Show me Your glory.”
There’s Still So Much More to Know
How could a man who had already seen so much still be asking to see more?
I believe it is because the more Moses knew God, the more he realized there was still so much of Him left to know.
It reminds me of a great evangelist who has since gone on to be with the Lord. He always said, “Never be satisfied with where you are in your walk with God because there is always so much more that the Lord can pour into our lives.”
That is the longing that stirs my heart deeply in this passage. It isn’t the cry of someone who has never experienced God. It is the cry of someone who has experienced Him so deeply that he cannot ever go back to living life without Him. He is totally undone. And even writing this, I’m undone. To live in such a way…there is something about truly knowing the presence of God that ruins you for a life lived independently of Him.
And I can’t help but feel this rising up within my heart as I read Moses’ words:
“Lord, let that be me…”
I don’t ever want to become so comfortable in my life that I am “okay” without God’s presence in it. I don’t want yesterday’s encounters with the Lord to be what satisfies me today. I don’t want to be willing to walk into a place God has promised without knowing He is walking with me to that place of promise.
I want to live with the kind of holy dependence that says, “If You’re not going, I don’t want to go.”
And even after everything God has shown me, I still want that hunger to whisper,
“Show me Your glory, Lord.”
That is where Unravel Me came from for me.
Change every part of who I am so that I can see His glory.
It comes from that place of longing. Deeper than deep. From wanting God to undo anything in me that could ever become comfortable without Him. To unravel the independence, the familiarity, the self-sufficiency, and whatever else might make me settle for knowing about His presence instead of desperately wanting to live in it.
Because once you have known what it is to walk with Him, something inside of you knows:
I don’t want to learn how to live without You, Lord.
Additional Scripture to Sit With This Week
Psalm 27:4 — David’s desire was to dwell in the presence of the Lord and seek Him.
Psalm 63:1–3 — A picture of what it looks like to hunger and thirst for God Himself.
Philippians 3:8–10 — Paul had experienced so much with God, yet his desire remained: “I want to know Christ.”
John 15:4–5 — Jesus reminds us that we were never meant to live independently of Him. Our life flows from remaining connected to Him.
Holy Habit Reflection Questions
Have I become accustomed to things about God that once filled me with wonder?
If God gave me the thing I have been praying for, but it required moving ahead without His leading, would I still want it?
Is my relationship with God creating a deeper dependence on Him, or have I quietly learned how to do much of my life on my own?
What might I need to ask the Lord to unravel in me so that I can know Him more deeply?
When was the last time my heart simply cried, “Lord, show me Your glory”?
Holy Habit Practice
Spend some time this week sitting with Exodus 33:13–18. Don’t rush through it. Read Moses’ words slowly and pay attention to what stirs in you.
Then make his prayers your own:
Teach me Your ways.
Don’t let me go without Your presence.
Show me Your glory.
Ask the Lord to show you anything that has become too familiar, anything you have been trying to carry without Him, or any place where your hunger for Him has grown quiet.
And then simply stay there for a while.
No agenda. No long list of things you need God to do.
Just the desire to know Him and breathe Him in.