Meeting with God

Pastor Charlie Rousey

Exodus 3:1-5 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

Moses grew up in the home of the leader of the world’s most powerful nation, and here we see him as a lowly shepherd keeping sheep for his father-in-law. If I were God, I would be speaking to those in Pharaoh’s house, not to shepherds in the desert, but He sees things differently than I do. Then God appears to him in a form to help us understand Him, a fire that burns but does not consume.

God tells Moses something that we all need to understand. When we come to Him, we are coming to a holy place. Moses was to put off his shoes to show his lowly state as he approaches the burning bush. I look at my life and see many things I need to put off as I approach and serve this same God. Does my life and the choices I make show that I understand the Holy God that I serve?

God meeting with Moses brings God’s message to Moses. Moses is called to lead a group of people that will go through fire but will not be destroyed. Moses responds the way most of us would. He feels that he is not the right man for the job, and he begins to tell God why he has chosen the wrong man. Moses, like most of us, would prefer to keep the sheep than to obey the call of God.

Moses makes a choice to heed the call he is given. I have seen this call given to people at every stage of their lives. For some like me, it comes before our professional lives begin. For others, it comes when they are established in their lives and profession. I think each of us understands the temptation Moses faces to just remain a shepherd. I do believe that is what most people would have done.

Because Moses obeyed the voice of the Lord, he would see marvelous things. He saw the world’s most powerful nation brought to its knees and its entire army destroyed, he walked across a sea on dry ground, he stood in the presence of God and received His commandments, he watched God care for His children in supernatural ways. Moses' life would end with God showing him the land he had promised for his children and giving him the knowledge that his life had been spent to make this happen. I am sure if you were to ask Moses on that mountain, “Did you make the right decision at the burning bush,” he would say, “Absolutely!”