Close Proximity | Walk It Out Wednesday

This summary, based on Bishop T.D. Jakes’ “Walk It Out Wednesday” teaching from Exodus 33, provides powerful guidance for believers seeking deeper intimacy with God, deliverance from trauma, and clarity on the intersection of ministry and business metrics. The core message emphasizes that proximity to God is already guaranteed for the believer and that transformation requires intentional action, consecrated focus, and a recognition of the gospel as a fulfilled prophecy.

1. Unlocking Divine Proximity: Knowing and Being Known

The teaching centers on Moses’ plea in Exodus 33:18: “Show me thy glory”. This request arose from Moses’ desire to know God as intimately as God knew him.

The Assurance of Being Known by God

Moses enjoyed an unusual relationship with God, speaking to Him “face to face,” a level of intimacy not granted to other prophets who spoke through dreams and visions. The fundamental assurance for salvation is not based on good works, appearance, or ritual, but on this divine recognition: “I am known of God”.

• God’s Foreknowledge: Nothing about the believer is hidden from God. God knows our thoughts even while we are formulating them, long before they come to our head.
• Total Acceptance: Knowing that God sees the entirety of the believer—the past, current, and future self—and still allows them into His presence provides great comfort and assures them of acceptance.
• A Place Beside God: When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God responded by providing a “place beside me”. This proximity is the highest honor, signifying that the believer gets to sit by the right side of God. This proximity is available because God desires closeness, not distance.

The Fulfillment of the Cleft in the Rock

God placed Moses in the “cliff of the rock” and covered him with His hand while His glory passed by. This “cleft” or crevice represents a broken place in the rock where the broken man (Moses) connected with God.

The ultimate fulfillment of this Old Testament type is found in Jesus Christ, the Rock.

• There was no cleft in Jesus until the Roman soldier pierced His side.
• This act created an indentation so believers could be “in him”—the fulfillment of the cleft of the rock.
• The church (ecclesia, the called out ones) was born from the bleeding side of Christ. This sacrifice broke every veil (the temple veil was rent from top to bottom) to allow the broken man to come into a broken place and become whole through being in Him.

2. Practical Steps to Manifest God’s Presence

A common struggle is the feeling of distance from God, even when studying and praying. The truth is that the believer is already close to God. The goal is to gain an awareness of His presence.

Changing Focus, Not Proximity

God is omnipresent (present in all places at all times) and omnipotent (all-powerful). He is always with the believer, even when they are doing wrong. He is not a feeling or an emotion that comes and goes.

• Setting the Mood: God does not manifest himself in chaos and confusion. Believers must change their focus and control their atmosphere by setting a mood for intimacy. This might involve playing worship music repeatedly or dimming the lights, similar to how one prepares for intimacy in a marriage relationship.
• Consecration: Consecration brings an awareness of God’s presence by actively choosing to not be distracted—cutting off the phone, TV, or other noise. This intimate moment with God is essential, as the void left by a lack of divine intimacy will be sought elsewhere.
• Internal Source: God is not far off; the true revelation is that He is coming from within you (“Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water”).

3. Overcoming Trauma and Embracing Deliverance

The shame and guilt following a relapse into sin, often rooted in trauma, requires moving beyond identifying the trauma toward deliverance.

Language of Trauma vs. Language of Deliverance

While therapy is good because it gives language to feelings and trauma, the purpose of understanding the trauma is to go through it to the other side, not to stay buried in the language of pain.

• Trauma is Not the End: Trauma is a sign that there is triumph on the other side. The individual must move past justifying sin with trauma and instead seek the vision for the future.
• Looking Up: Redemption does not happen by looking back.
• Contact with Christ: The moment the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of Jesus’s garment, she stood up and walked away. She was made whole and no longer crawled or bled, illustrating that once contact is made with Jesus, the time for crawling on the floor is over.

4. The Integration of Metrics and Ministry

When running a healthcare business, the owner questioned whether metrics (business success measurements) compromised the ministry aspect of the work.

Business is Ministry

A healthcare business is inherently a ministry because human beings are body, soul, and spirit, and what affects the body affects the soul and the spirit.

• Interconnectedness: Illnesses like hypertension or migraine headaches can be traced back to stress in the soul and mind. Addressing the physical body is part of ministering to the whole person.
• Metrics are Necessary: Metrics do not take away from the sincerity of the ministry. It costs money to run a ministry, just as Jesus paid taxes to Caesar. The water (the message) is free, but the pipe (the infrastructure) is not.
• Sincerity: The metrics only become a problem if the mindset is carnal. If Abraham offering sacrifice to God was worship, then there is no separation between stewardship and ministry.