Little, Extraordinary Things
Scripture Reading: Exodus 3:1-12
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[b] will worship God on this mountain.”
Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
Exodus 3:3
It’s not always the big things in our lives that make the most difference. Often it’s the little things, such as everyday events and encounters, that shape us deeply and really change our lives. For example, I can think of brief, unplanned conversations with people—some of whom were not even close to me—that made me reflect for a long time about my perspectives and actions.
We know that in some ways Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush was pivotal. But if we take a moment to look at the details, we can appreciate that at first it seemed a rather random occurrence in Moses’ everyday life of herding flocks. It wasn’t a high profile encounter with the king of Egypt, or an invasion by a foreign army, or even the sight of a massive cedar. It was simply a small bush burning in the desert, and yet it caught Moses’ attention because the fire in the bush did not go out.
This became a tree-of-life moment for Moses, because God met with him there and called him to lead his people, the Israelites, out of slavery in Egypt. So it wasn’t merely the fire in the bush that made this experience spectacular; it was being in the presence of God and hearing God’s call and his promise to be with Moses so that he could do this life-changing thing.
While it is completely up to God to reveal his power and presence to people, it is up to us to pay attention.
Lord, we long to know you, and we want to know your presence in our lives. Help us to be attentive when you reveal yourself to us, and to trust you to guide us. In Jesus, Amen.
Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
Exodus 3:3
It’s not always the big things in our lives that make the most difference. Often it’s the little things, such as everyday events and encounters, that shape us deeply and really change our lives. For example, I can think of brief, unplanned conversations with people—some of whom were not even close to me—that made me reflect for a long time about my perspectives and actions.
We know that in some ways Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush was pivotal. But if we take a moment to look at the details, we can appreciate that at first it seemed a rather random occurrence in Moses’ everyday life of herding flocks. It wasn’t a high profile encounter with the king of Egypt, or an invasion by a foreign army, or even the sight of a massive cedar. It was simply a small bush burning in the desert, and yet it caught Moses’ attention because the fire in the bush did not go out.
This became a tree-of-life moment for Moses, because God met with him there and called him to lead his people, the Israelites, out of slavery in Egypt. So it wasn’t merely the fire in the bush that made this experience spectacular; it was being in the presence of God and hearing God’s call and his promise to be with Moses so that he could do this life-changing thing.
While it is completely up to God to reveal his power and presence to people, it is up to us to pay attention.
Lord, we long to know you, and we want to know your presence in our lives. Help us to be attentive when you reveal yourself to us, and to trust you to guide us. In Jesus’s name,Amen.
