The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

Have you ever participated in a group ice-breaker where the prompt is, “Introduce yourself using a word that starts with the same letter as your first name”? I have, and let me tell you, “H” adjectives are somewhat limited. “Hardworking” and “hilarious” always feel a little braggy. That usually leaves me choosing between “Handy Hailey” and “Happy Hailey.” Prone to overthinking these types of things, I struggle to choose “happy,” because, of course, I’m not always characterized by happiness. In truth, there are very few words that could describe me 100% accurately, 100% of the time.

God doesn’t have this problem. The words he used to describe his character to Moses thousands of years ago have remained 100% accurate every day since. In fact, the words immediately following Exodus 34:6 are, “keeping steadfast love for thousands,” meaning to the thousandth generation. There is so much security and peace in knowing that no matter how much our emotions and circumstances change day-to-day or even hour-to-hour, God will never change.

In the coming weeks, we will take a look at how God consistently meets our sadness with compassion, responds to our betrayal with grace, contrasts our short tempers with his longsuffering, drives out our fear with perfect love, and showers us with faithfulness in the midst of our insecurities. Not only does God comfort and strengthen us with his unchanging character, but as his image bearers, he invites us to grow in our own constancy. Through the empowerment of his Holy Spirit, we can become less controlled by the whims of our emotions and more defined by the steadfast character traits of our Creator.

God’s revelation of his character to Moses in Exodus 34 came after a bold request Moses made in Exodus 33:18. Moses prayed, “Please show me your glory.” This encounter with God’s glory visibly transformed Moses. When he returned to the Israelite camp from Mount Sinai, Moses’ face literally shone, and he began wearing a veil because his new look frightened the people. As we dive into this study of our emotions and God’s unchanging character, we can also ask for greater revelation and greater transformation by praying, “Holy Spirit, if there is more, I want it.”

This prayer always reminds me of a song I sang as a child in Sunday School that ends with this resolution: “I want more of Jesus, so I’ll give him more of me.” Moses requested more from God, but before revealing himself to Moses, God first gave Moses these instructions: ”Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain” (Exodus 34:2). As you pray this week for more of God–for deeper revelation of his character and greater transformation to his likeness–how can you give him more of yourself? How will you present yourself and prepare your heart to encounter the glory of the Living God?

Almighty God, I want more of you. Holy Spirit, please reveal any obstacles in my heart that are preventing me from encountering you today. Help me to set aside every distraction and give myself fully to you. Thank you for the comfort of your unchanging character and for the transformative work you are doing in me. In Jesus name, amen.