READ Exodus 3:1-6 aloud.
Exodus 3
1Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
2And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
4And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
5And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
6Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
This passage describes a very exciting encounter that Moses had with God. He witnessed what we humans would never think would be possible! It made meTHINK of the time I was on a missions trip in Argentina, and a little girl from home gave me a drawing to give to another little girl in Argentina. She thought it would be a nice gesture and I agreed that when I met a little girl whom I thought would love the picture, I would give it to her. The picture was of snow in our beautiful Canadian home, and no child from Argentina has ever seen snow.
So I was in church the last Sunday before we left, and a little girl runs up to me and wants me to pick her up. Of course, I do so and start dancing with her during worship. At the time, I had braces, and she was fascinated by them and kept touching them. (it was a little gross, but heck, it was a beautiful little girl from Argentina. I couldn’t just ship her back to her mother! I wanted to spend the most time with her as possible. Haha. Although, I did shut my mouth pretty quickly once she reached for them again.) Anywho, on our way out of the church, I stopped the child, and told her that I had something special for her and her brother. I took out my purse, and searched for that picture that I wanted to give her. I had a friend beside me helping me. I looked everywhere in my purse and could not seem to find it. I emptied everything out onto a table, and proceeded to give them candy because I felt bad to have lost the real gift that I wanted to give her. I prayed to God to help me find this picture, and I had almost lost hope. I turned back around to search for it again, and there it was, on top of the pile of stuff that I took out of my purse! I turned to my friend, and asked if she had seen it there before, and she shook her head no. We were both amazed that God did such an amazing thing. He placed that there for me to give to that little girl. No matter how hard I looked for it before, it was nowhere to be found, but once I asked God to show it to me, He graciously placed it on top of the pile for me to see. Seriously, how amazing is that? Have you ever encountered anything from God?
A lot of us feel like these types of encounters have to be visible to the human eye, but a lot of the times He sends us spiritual gifts/encounters as well. Kind of like my YWAM trip! He assured me that He had everything under control, and to not worry about right now, because tomorrow is a new day, and He had great plans for my life. Jesus is the most gracious gift we could ever receive, and we never even deserved Him. Especially after giving us His Son, you would think God would stop there wouldn’t you? He doesn’t though, and that’s what is so great! He is the best forgiver anyone could ever ask for, and He is willing to give us everything that we need as long as we live our lives for Him. When we are not sure about how to live for Him, or whatever else we’re unsure of, He is willing to tell us directly what we need to do. Whether it is to find a new church, new friends, or to fully start over, He is always right and even though we should never question His grace, love, affection or plans for us, He still allows us too. He wants us to understand His was each more everyday. How many best friends do you have that will do that no matter what time it is, or what else they are busy with? He is truly amazing and astonishing. He is the glorious of all glories, and all other glories come from Him.
Look around you, at the trees, the ocean, the sky… He created each and everyone of those things for us to see, so that we have even more reason to glorify Him. When was the last time you went for a nature walk, and looked at all the details that this earth has to offer? He knows everything about every single piece of being on this planet. He knows how many hairs are on your head, He made your eyes exactly the way He wanted them, He knows what’s within you, and He knows us better than we know ourselves. He is there with us every step of the way, and I don’t know about you, but He is the only friend that can promise me all these things, and literally sticking to His promise. Thank Him for your life every day, because of Him, every second is worth living if we truly believe in Him.
When God said “Remove your sandals from your feet. You’re standing on holy ground” I think He meant to remove worldly things, and focus on His holiness. How often do you acknowledge God’s holiness? How does God’s holiness make a difference in your life? Are you willing to put all man made things aside, and focus on God? No one said this life would be easy, but with God’s help, no matter what struggles you go through to get passed all the horror of society, it will all be worth it in the end. Focus on Him, and His love. Even thought there are times where we believe that God has let us down, He always brings something better in our lives through all the bad that happens to us, and our loved ones. Through every struggle that brings sadness, there will be a delightful day that we can rejoice in Him for bringing us smiles. He will never let you down, no matter what.
Now, some of you may feel like you have never had a real encounter with God, or maybe you are just uncertain if you have or not. I encourage you to PRAY to God right now, and ask Him to bring Himself to you. That He will share a special thought with you, through a sign, or through just listening to what He has to say. He is a great and mighty God, and if it is in His will, He will answer this prayer. If you are struggling with a decision, ask Him to send you a sign, you’ll be surprised on how often this works. The trick is, to believe that He actually will. Without believing, there is no receiving. Work on your relationship with God, and continue to pray to Him each and every day.
Moses only heard from God when He paid attention. We are a lot like Moses in a way; we only pay notice God when we pay attention to what goes on around us. I want you to be able to find a quiet place this week, where you can sit in awe of God. Spend some time in silence, where you can pay more attention to the things you usually neglect. These things may be situations, people, quiet moments with God, His creation, etc… While you sit there and think about these neglected things, look for ways that God is waiting to interact with you, but that you have never noticed before because of your lack of attention. We all do it, but now is the time to change it. We need Him to speak to us now more than ever before. Are you ready to LIVEthis life while committing to focusing more on what God has in store for you?
Much love,
SaraKath.
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