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. – Exodus 3:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 22, 2012): Exodus 3

Sometimes I wonder if there was more to the conversation that Moses had with God at the burning bush. We understand by the description of the conversation that we do have that Moses did not think that he could make a difference with what was happening in Egypt – and we also know that he had good reason for that belief. When he had the power to make a change, he was unable to do the job. And if he could not make the change when he had the power, there was no way that he could make the change now that he was nothing more than an old shepherd.

So, as he stumbles onto the burning bush and hears the voice of God for the first time, I get his amazement. But his amazement isn’t just because God had appeared to him. It was the reason why God had appeared. God steps off of his throne in heaven and appears in a burning bush in front of Moses. And there he tells Moses that he has come because he has heard the suffering of Israel in Egypt, and that he is ready to lead them out of Egypt and into the land that he had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And I wonder if Moses first reaction to God was that he missed. This burning bush wasn’t in Egypt, and the people of Israel weren’t close by. God, your GPS is malfunctioning!

Soon Moses got it, God had appeared to him because he was about to be drafted. And it wasn’t that he did not want to be involved in the saving of Israel - I am sure that some of the prayers that God had heard were prayed by the lips of the man that now stood in front of the burning bush, but Moses knew that he had already failed at the job. Moses wanted God to intervene. What Moses didn’t expect was that God would call him into the process of accomplishing the task.

We want God to step into our situations. We want him to come and fix our problems. But there is a truth that Moses understood well on this day beside the burning bush. Whenever God steps into our timeline, he does so because he needs us to make an impact in the life of someone that is currently in our proximity. I am convinced that God is still hearing the prayers of his people, and I am also convinced that there are still a lot of burning bushes all around us, because God is still calling us to make a difference in the world in which we live. God still steps into our timeline, so that we can step into theirs.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 4