He made His ways known to Moses and His acts to the children of Israel. Psalms 103:7.

This verse has gotten my attention lately and caused me to ask the question, “What is the difference between ways and acts?”

I am aware these days, as I am sure you are, of the intense pull and distraction to keep our eyes from looking up. The temptation to look down and focus on all the negativity surrounding us is powerful.

A number of times in the book of Genesis, God called Moses to come up! Come up to the mountain and stay! That is where Moses met with God and received direction for thousands of people, instructions for building the tabernacle, and it was there he received the Ten Commandments. Being up on the mountain, was as close as he could get to seeing God. Those words, “Come up!,” was a invitation from God to come away from the crowds and be with Him.

In Hebrew, the meaning of the word ways means course of life, mode of action, along, away, because of, conversation, journey, manner, passenger, through, high (path)

What does acts mean? In Hebrew, the word means action, deed, doing, invention, occasion, work.

In the scriptures, we clearly see, the countless miracles of God for the children of Israel. They couldn’t have survived a day without a continuous flow of miracles while living forty years in the dessert. But unfortunately, witnessing all of those miracle interventions didn’t seem to be enough, because the Bible tells us in Psalms 103, there was only one who knew God’s ways. How could that be?

Could it be because he obeyed God’s call to come up to the mountain? Did he know God’s ways because he did not stay looking down at the circumstances or at others, but climbed up higher to be with God?

It was on the mountain where God spoke to him, and he received revelation- knowledge, listened and learned God’s heart and His ways. What we see of the children of Israel, who stayed below, was something much different. They got impatient and angry, and decided to collaborate together and build a new god for themselves; a golden calf.

The children of Israel witnessed God’s acts, they depended on Him daily, even for their food, but they did not know His ways. If they did, do you think they would of built a calf? Do you think they would of turned on each other and on Moses? Do you think they would of continually complained and reacted in fear?

This lead me to a couple other scriptures:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9

Jesus is the way the truth and the life. John 14:6

Do we know His ways? Do we know Him? Does He know you?

The good news is, Jesus paid the price so all can go up to the mountain and be with God! Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we have access to the Holy of Holies. Which means we can come boldly into the throne room of grace. The door is wide open for me and you to know His ways! I know I can run into my papa’s room, jump onto His lap, rest my head on His chest and talk to Him in the deepest more intimate way. He speaks to us, counsels us, is compassionate, loving, all knowing and all seeing. I get to spend as much time as I want with Him, whatever time of the day or night, and He is a hundred percent available.

I can know Him! I can know His ways and so can you!

I can’t physically go up to the mountain everyday to be with God, but I can choose daily to humble myself, get on my knees and be on the mountain with my God. Going lower is my higher place; kneeling and going face down on the floor, hungering to get as close as I can to Him.

These are serious days we are in. Moses got clear direction from the Lord on the mountain. He got all the direction He needed from His surrender and intimacy with God.

He did not get it from the masses. Not from the majority.

Will you put in the time to know His ways?
Will you answer His invitation to come up higher?