We long for experiences of revelation like Moses’—maybe not with all the drama and special effects, though we must admit sometimes we wish for exactly those. We want the clarity and authority of the revelation Moses receives. Wouldn’t it be nice to know? Wouldn’t it be nice to see God, to hear God’s voice, to have Wisdom and Truth carved in stone right there in our hands?

However, the mountain isn’t bathed in clear sky and sunlight; it’s wrapped in a cloud. Divine revelation is shrouded in mystery. God doesn’t light the way for Moses; God calls Moses to come near, and Moses enters the cloud. Sometimes the light is for our heart, not our eyes. We long for clarity and certainty, but the light of God’s Word isn’t subject to knowledge or understanding. As the mystical text The Cloud of Unknowing says, God can be loved but not thought. God seldom reveals explanations or answers. God reveals beauty, grace, and possibility. God reveals sacred blessing hidden in mystery. God’s self-revelation doesn’t explain the mystery; it is a mystery. God lets us see the mystery and know it is God. The result is not less mystery, but deeper mystery and deeper trust. Ultimately God’s self-revelation is not a fact or a belief but a presence. It is God.

Sometimes the clearest revelation we receive is that God walks with us in the dark, and we hear God breathing next to us. God offers no words, no thoughts, no stone tablets. Just a loving presence. And even in the dark, that is enough.

Even as I seek God’s light to guide me, I pray for the faith to trust the mystery of God’s presence when the way is clouded and when the revelation itself is mystery. After all, when Jesus comes, Jesus doesn’t light the way; he is the way.