One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”
When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
“Here I am!” Moses replied. (Exodus 3: 1-4)
I’m not going to lie. Every single time I've read this scripture in my life, I've been like “A burning bush…That’s cool, certainly a miracle, but the Bible is full of miracles.” This wasn't something that stood out to me…until recently. God has really been wrecking my heart and my mind over the book of Exodus ever since the beginning of this year. I had no idea why I was just getting drawn back into this book over and over again, it’s like God was trying to show me something or something…Weird. Then, just this past week I felt God calling me to read these scriptures again, so I did. And as always, He came through and showed me things that are for an entirely different blog post. Big things, big ideas, coming from a Big God. But one of the things that stuck out to me this time was the burning bush.
So one normal day, Moses was just casually tending some flock, leading them into the wilderness. (Which is important because more often than not, God will wait to speak to you until you’re completely alone. Just saying.) Anyways, so Moses was just hanging out in the wilderness, then when he got to the Mountain of God, he saw a burning bush. But not just a normal burning bush, but one that although it was engulfed in flames, it wasn't being consumed. Moses then said, “This is amazing. Why isn't that bush burning up? I must go see it.”
Moses HAD to go see the bush, as most of us would want to, too. To him there was no “Let’s just pretend I didn't see that, I have my sheep to tend to. If I go see what that’s all about, things could get complicated.” Oftentimes, God compels you into His presence by things that interest you. One minute your thoughts are so consumed by what’s in front of you and by what’s really gripped your heart, and the next moment you’re before God, watching Him perform a miracle and you don’t even know how you got there.
As Moses was approaching the bush, God called out to him, from INSIDE the bush! If there was ever a strange place for God to talk to Moses from, it would be from inside a burning bush. But that’s the thing; God can talk to you from the most unexpected sources. It could be from a book, a movie, an organization, a sermon, a song, a friend, someone you don’t even like, a website, a burning bush. Name it, God can use it! And when He does, I hope you reply “Here I am!” as Moses did, and prepare yourself for what He’s going to say or ask you to do. If we were to continue on with Moses story (which I plan to do in future posts) we would see that whatever He asks is going to be big, because our God is big, but it’s also going to be something your heart was made for.
So one normal day, Moses was just casually tending some flock, leading them into the wilderness. (Which is important because more often than not, God will wait to speak to you until you’re completely alone. Just saying.) Anyways, so Moses was just hanging out in the wilderness, then when he got to the Mountain of God, he saw a burning bush. But not just a normal burning bush, but one that although it was engulfed in flames, it wasn't being consumed. Moses then said, “This is amazing. Why isn't that bush burning up? I must go see it.”
Moses HAD to go see the bush, as most of us would want to, too. To him there was no “Let’s just pretend I didn't see that, I have my sheep to tend to. If I go see what that’s all about, things could get complicated.” Oftentimes, God compels you into His presence by things that interest you. One minute your thoughts are so consumed by what’s in front of you and by what’s really gripped your heart, and the next moment you’re before God, watching Him perform a miracle and you don’t even know how you got there.
As Moses was approaching the bush, God called out to him, from INSIDE the bush! If there was ever a strange place for God to talk to Moses from, it would be from inside a burning bush. But that’s the thing; God can talk to you from the most unexpected sources. It could be from a book, a movie, an organization, a sermon, a song, a friend, someone you don’t even like, a website, a burning bush. Name it, God can use it! And when He does, I hope you reply “Here I am!” as Moses did, and prepare yourself for what He’s going to say or ask you to do. If we were to continue on with Moses story (which I plan to do in future posts) we would see that whatever He asks is going to be big, because our God is big, but it’s also going to be something your heart was made for.