2023_03_13 Insight Post- Kim Feld

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. ² 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. ³ “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”

⁴ 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, NLT).

Moses’ story has always fascinated me. He is on my list of people I want to talk with when I get to heaven. I have so many questions! The story reads like just an ordinary day in Moses’ life, tending his father-in-law’s flock when the miraculous happens, and his life is forever changed.

In reading Exodus chapter 3, I was struck by the beginning of verse 4: “When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him….” God didn’t call to Moses when he noticed the fire; He waited until Moses moved toward it. That may seem like a small detail, but I think there’s something to it.

God invites us into the work He’s doing all around us every day. Moses was commissioned for a great purpose in the middle of a very ordinary day. God would use him to lead the Israelites out of captivity! Moses was reluctant and felt inadequate, but God promised to be with him.

Moses was far from perfect, but God used him in mighty ways. Deuteronomy chapter 34 tells us that Moses lived to be 120 years old and was strong and vital when he died. It also gives us the remarkable fact that God buried Moses in an unknown location. Verse 10 of that chapter says that the Lord knew Moses “face to face.” How incredible is that?

The same Moses who curiously approached the burning bush and began an incredible journey with God was also present at Jesus’ transfiguration. Let’s look at Matthew 17:

Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. ² As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. ³ Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus (Matthew 17:1-3, NLT).

When we read Moses’ story, we see that God was with him from the beginning of his life. He had a plan for Moses that would exceed Moses’ wildest imagination. I take courage from Moses’ story because God met him in the midst of his inadequacy and fear. He will do the same for us.