We all, with unveiled face, beholding…the glory of the Lord… —2 Corinthians 3:18

Moses spent time with God and because of such time, his face was visibly transformed. He came out of God’s presence aglow. There was such a radiance from his face that he wore a veil. Recently I have heard that the veil was worn so that the people would not see when the light would begin to fade. Initially I thought it was because the light was so bright that the people couldn’t bear to look at his face. But this recent thought of hiding it so that the people would not know it faded is interesting. A couple of reasons why this is important from a leadership standpoint.

The people need to know the leader spends time with God. Of course the people could see Moses routinely go into the cloud and sometimes remain for weeks. But having this veil on his face was a remainder each day that Moses was off the mountain that the glory of God was with him. The leader needs to radiate God’s glory among the people daily, which only happens when the leader is spending regular time in prayer and scripture, face-to-face with God.

The leader needs to be reminded that God is the worker/doer of all that happens. As a leader it is tempting to try to get people to notice and solicit the praise of man. But God is the one who deserves and should receive the glory. When the veil was off of Moses, people could see that the “man” was back but with the veil, they all knew God was with him and empowering him to do all that was being done.

Moses wasn’t trying to muster up the glory of God on his face. He was simply spending time with God and the glory of God naturally shone on his face. The same will be true for you. Just do what you do but spend time with God first. Seek Him and His glory first and then all things will be added to you. The glory of God doesn’t come by conjuring up spiritual disciplines or practices but by spending time alone with God on a regular basis.

Oswald Chambers said:

Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine. And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it. A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware— “…Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him” (Exodus 34:29).

Engaging God face-to-face is the only way to know God deeply and intimately. God intends for you shine on for His glory but it will require His glory to shine on you.

Final thought: When you spend time with God, it will show and everyone will know. The same is true if you don’t: it will show and everyone will know.