Does life feel blah? Grey? Another slog through the day?
Of course, these emotions can be related to various causes. For instance, our biology, psychology, and/or our environment.
But one cause can be that we have lost our sense of enchantment with the world. Sometimes we lack any sense that Jesus is alive, reigning from heaven, and working all things together for the good of those who love him. Instead, it feels like evil is triumphing, the mechanistic gears of the universe are relentlessly turning, and we are just another cog in the machine.
I think of Moses, who was ‘shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian.’ For a long time, the Israelites have been suffering under their harsh taskmasters in Egypt. Moses had violently attempted to do something about it, killing an Egyptian. But once he realized that Pharaoh knew and was seeking to kill him, he fled to Midian, a foreign land. Acts 7:30 tells us that Moses was in Midian for forty years. While there, he has a son named Gershom, which Dr. Walter Kaiser tells us means “lonely stranger.”
Let’s sit with that for a moment. For forty years, Moses has felt like a lonely stranger. He’s removed from his people. Perhaps he feels guilt and regret for killing the Egyptian. He feels helpless. There’s no indication that God will deliver his people from slavery. There’s no sense that Moses can participate in God’s purposes. It’s an aimless time, walking around with sheep, year after year, making it through life.
But then, in an ordinary but supernatural manner, “the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush.” Moses sees it as remarkable - a bush, burning but not consumed - and goes over to examine it. Then God speaks to him, “Moses, Moses!”
How was Moses awakened to God and God’s plans?
He didn’t do anything. At best, we can credit him with looking at a burning bush, being curious, and going over to see more.
Why did God wait forty years? We don’t know. Perhaps Moses needed that time to be ready to hear God’s voice and accept, however reluctantly, the mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
What’s the secret? God appeared to Moses.
The burning bush reveals the presence of God in ordinary life. Likewise, we are now granted God’s presence in ordinary life. Instead of a burning bush, we are given burning hearts - we are transformed and become the temple of the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 2, how does the Holy Spirit descend into the life of the early church? The Spirit appears as “tongues of fire” - a reminder, perhaps, of how the flames appeared in the burning bush.
It’s no good to ask how we can enter God’s presence. Or, how can we please God? Or, what religious activities can we accomplish so that God loves us? That would place heavy burdens on us.
Instead, given that God has already come to be with us, how are you alive to that reality today? What does it look like to have faith - to trust - that God has already included you in his love and invited you to participate in his mission?
Let’s encourage one another. What keeps you alert to God’s activity?