By Guest Writer
There was an older gentleman in my hometown that took me under his wing when I was in middle school. He gave me my first motorcycle ride, taught me the importance of a firm handshake, and explained how to smooth talk your way out of a tight spot.
One summer he hired me to work for him and dubbed me his “official representative.” It wasn’t as fancy as it sounds. My work usually consisted of trips to the hardware store for more nails and calling customers to tell them their order was ready (or not). I was essentially a glorified errand boy.
Whenever I was acting on his behalf, he’d always say, “Remember, if anyone gives you trouble, tell ‘em Larry sent you.” Larry knew that no one would listen to me, and so when I spoke, he wanted everyone to know they weren’t listening to me—they were listening to Larry through me. That made all the difference.
When angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush, something very similar was happening—only far more important. In fear for his life, Moses fled to Midian from his home in Egypt after killing an Egyptian taskmaster. He made a nice life for himself there. He married and settled down, and soon Egypt became a distant memory.
But then, after years of living the inconspicuous life of a shepherd, Moses was thrust into the very center stage of redemptive history.
Trembling, he slipped off his sandals and rested his bare feet on the holy ground as God introduced Himself. Moses could hardly believe his ears when God called him to lead Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land. Feeling completely unqualified for the job, Moses questioned God. Why me? What am I to say? Who am I to say sent me?
Patiently, God responded, “Just tell them ‘I am’ sent you” (Exodus 3:14).
The truth is, God knew Moses wasn’t qualified for the job. He also knew that Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to the voice of Moses. But that’s okay, because Moses wasn’t acting on his own behalf. God was speaking and acting through Moses, and in the end, that made all the difference.
We may not be hearing God’s voice from the midst of a burning bush, or leading a nation of captives to freedom, but each day we live and move as representatives of God in the world. It is an act of faith to do what the Lord has called us to do without relying upon human confidence and credentials, but to instead remember that your life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).
Let His strength be perfected in your weakness today (2 Corinthians 12:9). In the name of the Lord, answer God’s call on your life, and as you do, trust God to do the heavy lifting. That’s what He did for Moses. He will for you, too.
Written By Nate Shurden
48 thoughts on "Moses and the Burning Bush"
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Tyler says:
Often when God interiors our lives and asks something we tend to do what Moses did. But God made us, yes he still working on us but he chose us for a reason. We need to believe in Gods strength to make you what you need to be.
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I will listen to what God says about me over what myself, others, or the devil might say differently. I will no longer believe in the lie. I am qualified!
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He reveals himself in the ordinary moments in our lives by getting the attention of his servants. He will not only call you to service but equip you to serve.
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Josh Woods says:
He calls us to display Himself glorious through us. He means for the mark on our lives to be that He is with us.
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I will stop trying to speak to impress or prove myself. Instead, I will seek God’s presence, and I will allow Him to be the One who marks me most.
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God’s invitation to join Him in His creative, redemptive work is not about our skill sets–it’s about His presence. He has freely given us of Himself through the crops and by His Spirit within us. We can live out Redemption!
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Humans like to be self-sufficient. We can’t do what God calls us to do without Him.
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Lord,
Please help me to think and believe and live that Your presence is all I need.
Amen. -
Russell Phillips says:
Be more courageous to answer the call. My responsibility is in obedience, not in creating or leading the mission.
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We, like Moses, are called to be the human representatives of the Living God. That means we have a huge responsibility to live lives that exemplify God’s values. Luckily, our imperfections are covered by God’s strength, and our mess ups serve to highlight his perfection.
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God allows us to be his representatives in this world. He’s faithful to us, even though we screw up and often misrepresent him. His patience with us is unfounded.
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Just like the God-man relationship, the perfection of the gospel shines through our sin. However, we are called to be responsible to the call, and faithful to the mission. It’s not our initiative to spread the Gospel, but we act on the call of the One who sent us. Therefore, we needn’t be afraid to act, as we are simply doing the will of another.
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For boldness. That I would represent Him well, and not think about my own reputation.
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Ryan Miller says:
We are totally incapable of any job God has for us, yet he chooses to use us anyway!
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I will walk by faith as an ambassador of God realizing in every situation I find myself in that “I speak for God”
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The gospel calls us out of a mediocre life and makes us God’s ambassadors!
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God remembers His promises and keeps them. I like the fact that when Israel called out to God, He heard them and remembered His promise to the people of Israel. We can pray God’s promises back to Him and trust that he will be faithful to fulfill them!
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Rickyleemay says:
He’s in charge and he sent us.
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I’m just the errand boy that got invited along to be a part of Gods work
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His yoke is easy and his burden is light = go where God says to and trust Him to do the heavy lifting
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Let’s freaking do the dang thing
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God please help me be the errand boy. Help me remember that you sent us and we go about your business on your authority. With that in mind help us go boldly. And help me trust you to do the heavy lifting.
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Scott Schulman says:
We are so easily scared by other people. What we think people think of us or what we think people will do to us is a huge motivator in our decisions.
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Choose to consciously represent God in my conversation.
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The Gospel saves me to a life that is all about God. We get to represent God in this world. What a privilege!
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Lord, help me to be your advocate. I want others to see You through me today. Help me to not want all the glory for myself, but to be humble and point others to you.
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God sends me out into the world on His behalf. I’m not to live my life for myself.
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Jared Stacy says:
The gospel is the intersection of my need and God’s pursuit of glory.
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Tyler Rowe says:
God does not called the equipped, he equips the called. I am not “qualified” at all to do ministry in a worldly sense, but God doesn’t care. He WANTS to include me in the work of His kingdom despite the fact that he does not need me to do this work.
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Man is not worthy of this unbelievable mercy. We are unqualified sinners that have no business being in a relationship with the god of the universe. Only by grace safe we able to do this.
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Trusting God’s word is crucial if you are going to confidently go where he calls you. Being in scripture is instrumental in trusting the Lord with your life and well being.
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By going where the Lord calls me to be though I feel unworthy of being there all together. And when I am nervous about where I am going next, I will remember how God led Moses and guarded his soul so that he could do the work of the Lord.
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I will pray for confidence in the Lord and boldness as I go into uncharted territory.
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Braden Condray says:
We see throughout the Scriptures that God loves the odds to be stacked against His people because it adds to His glory when He delivers them and removes any opportunity for giving that glory to something of someone else. Of course none of us are qualified to carry the message of the Gospel to the world, that’s the whole point!
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The Gospel is the ultimate example of our insufficiency and God’s deliverance. It is the fulfillment of what the Exodus story foreshadows. God delivered the Israelites from physical slavery, and He has delivered us from spiritual slavery to sin by the blood of Jesus Christ.
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I will trust no longer in myself or my own ability, but trust completely in His sufficiency and faithfulness. I will step out in faith to do all He has called me to do and be all that He has called me to be, knowing that there is no way I can do it apart from Him, but that He is faithful to supply for our need.
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We are so prone to see things from our tiny human perspective and to forget the surpassing faithfulness of our God. But if we step out in faith to do what He has called us to do, knowing full well that we are entirely insufficient for the job, He is faithful to deliver us and provide what we need to do it.
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Heavenly Father, thank you for your great faithfulness to us even in spite of our great unfaithfulness to you. Thank you for the grace and mercy you have shown each of us and for the salvation you have secured for us in Jesus Christ. I pray that as we seek to bring you glory in this world that we would experience the truth of Jesus’ words that “nothing is impossible with God”. I pray that you would help our unbelief, and help us to trust that, although we can never measure up to the task you have entrusted us with, you will always be sufficient. Help us to function as the best representatives of you in this world that we can be. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
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Aaron says:
That God knows who and what we are and what we are able to do.
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That we do not know our full potential without the Lords help.
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That God keeps his word and will do work through us if we allow him.
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I will pray for peace in knowing I can do all things as long as Christ is with me.
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Most likely question god, although I know that is wrong. I will try to have an open mind and heart and act on the faith that he is all mighty.
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Josh Campbell says:
This gives us insight into the Saving nature of God. This is what His Gospel is all about. His people were lost and in slavery, but God in His great mercy sent a “savior” (Moses) to bring them out of captivity. Moses was obeying his Heavenly Father, just as Jesus did. God heard the cries of His people and He put His plan into action to save them. That’s the gospel.
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These passages teach me several specific things about God. First, it says, “Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.” (Ex. 2:23b) God cares about us, not only that but He hears us, and not only THAT but He cares enough about what He hears to DO something about it. But there’s more…
“…God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” … “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
(Ex. 3:4-6) God is urgently aware of His own Holiness and power. I believe that God called out to Moses for the safety of Moses. As humans we don’t always see God’s glory in this context. It’s not that it’s not in this context, we are just often blind to it. God cared enough for Moses to protect him from aimlessly addressing God’s presence.God doesn’t call the qualified, but He qualifies the called. God didn’t say, “Moses, you’ve got this. I know you can do it,” but rather he said, “Tell them I AM sent you.” When God sends people to do His bidding, He goes before and He comes behind. God wanted Pharaoh to know who Moses was representing and He wanted the Israelites to know as well but He ALSO Moses to know who Moses was representing.
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Man trusts in perceived “qualification” but it’s God who does the qualifying. Man is passive, content to maintain the status quo, but God hears the cries of His people and initiates change for the better.
Man’s place is to follow and TRUST God, but also to pay ATTENTION, so as to not miss what God wants to do. We must keep our eyes open for the “odd burning bush” in our lives. Moses lived in a desert area so he had probably seen a million burned and burning bushes but he was paying attention enough to notice that the bush wasn’t being consumed. He saw God’s power in the bush. God is ALWAYS doing things around us but it’s easy to miss if we’re not paying attention.
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I will not rest in my own “qualifications”, but rather in the great grace that God has extended to me. The beauty of this is that when I feel wronged or disqualified by man I can forgive, because God first forgave me. Man cannot disqualify me because I was never qualified in the first place. God requires OBEDIENCE not qualification. So I will obey Him.
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