Listen to the Burning Bush

This morning I began reading about one of my favorite Bible Characters - Moses. Ah, Moses, how I relate to him! He's wasn't like Abraham who set out into an unknown land because God called him to do so. Moses questioned God. His, "Suppose I go and . . . ." I'm an "and" kind of person. God calls me to something and I say "But", "What if", "and" because I can't see into the future and it frightens me. Therefore I have to question God's judgement as to what He thinks He's doing. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight."

Like Moses, we are being called by God to serve Him in any way He asks. I find it interesting that that Moses' name means, "draw out" because he was literally drawn out of the water by Pharaoh's daughter. God protected Moses so he could save the Israelites. But would Moses have done what God had chosen for him to do had he not been "drawn out" of the life of luxury? It took a trial in his life to start in motion God's plans. God used this trial, the killing of the Egyptian, to bring Moses to where he needed to be which was before the burning bush. I often think of the trials I've been through and how God used those times for His glory and to call me out of a life that was comfortable to finally seek the Lord with all my heart. What would have happened if I had not going through those things? Would I be who I am? Would I be ready to do what the Lord is calling me to do? The Scotch preacher, George Matheson said, "There is a time coming in which your glory shall consist in the very thing which now constitutes your pain." God will bring about His glory within the pain/trial you're going through. You have two choices: Either turn away from Him and wallow in your pain and suffering. Or turn to Him and allow Him to grow you through it. Strengthening you for His service. And when that old burning bush comes knocking at your door, answer it and say with a willing heart, "Yes Lord!" Then take Prov. 3:5-6 to heart and trust in the direction the Lord is leading you to go.

I also enjoyed a tid-bit from last night. It comes from a well known passage that again, I've glossed over and have even memorized. Ps. 23:2 says, "He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leas me beside quiet waters." It was the "quiet waters" that caught my attention. I remember hiking around Mt. Rainier with Eric the first year we were married. We came across a green pasture after hiking up a long way, across a glacier and descending back down towards Paradise Lodge. Within this green pasture was a stream. It's this stream that I think of when I read this verse. It wasn't a raging river but a gentle stream. A place where we could sit and rest. A place to soak up all of God's glory as we sat at the base of a magnificent mountain. God was there! "For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water." Rev. 7:17. If we're going through a difficult time, let's remember that God is with us. To turn to Him and sit beside the quiet waters and drink of the springs of living water.

Krista Jones
1.18.08