READ: Exodus 33:12-23
“And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy” – Exodus 33:19
From the scripture above, we see Moses negotiating with God for His presence to go with them. The Lord agreed to answer Moses’ prayer: “I will go with you. I will show you my presence and I will show you my glory.” God’s answer to Moses’ request for His presence was to show His glory, His goodness, His mercies, His graciousness and His name.
All these definitions of the presence of the Lord are from the revelation Moses had when he asked to see the presence of God. When the Lord eventually showed him His presence and passed before him, great declarations were made that revealed the goodness, the kindness, the graciousness and the merciful loving character of God.
We experience the same thing when we get close to people and experience their presence.
I once had a close interaction with a man who was a pastor of a church. I came away with the feeling of having met an extortionist, a malicious person and a Lucifer. In spite of his soft-spoken presentation, I came away with a very negative impression. Getting up close and personal to anyone will most likely reveal the person’s true nature.
Marriage reveals a person’s true nature. Marriage is where you live in the presence of an individual almost continually. It is there that you discover the qualities, good or bad, that a person has. You discover if the person is loving, kind, patient or otherwise. You may discover a person who is lazy, wicked, incompetent and downright evil. In marriage, you discover a person’s fears, anxieties, complexes and way of thinking. In the presence of a person, you truly encounter his nature.