1. Burning Bush Conversation #3

Exodus 3:10

God revealed His purpose for coming to find Moses in the desert. “Come now and I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Ex. 3:10) God had already given Moses his identification (v 6) and his motivation (v 7-9) so it was now time for action.

Moses no doubt had many things racing through his mind. Forty years before, he prematurely had taken matters into his own hands in order to break the bondage of his brothers. (Ex. 2:12) But that experience had left him with huge self doubt of his own ability. And his flight and subsequent self-exile suggest he knew the power of the unjust government.

When God has a mission for us, it is always greater than we alone can accomplish. Had Moses thought he had an opportunity to do this early on, he would have developed a strategy. I can see him organizing a guerilla school of warfare and secretly recruiting and training for an attempt to overthrow the government. But the Israelites had no intention of conquering that land, they only wanted to go home. But moving a “nation” of 2 million people was not something Moses could even conceive logistically.

Moses seemed like the least likely person to do this history writing event. He had no money, no following, and no credibility. He had been a fugitive from justice for forty years. I know of no modern day church body who would even consider him for membership much less leadership.

But God’s criteria is different than ours. God seems far less concerned about our journey of the past than our position at the present. As a young man, Moses was self-confident, eager to prove himself and impatient. But 40 years of training in God’s desert school had changed him to be God-reliant, reluctant to do anything without clear divine directive and patient enough to rely on the power of God.

For God, he was now the right candidate. As with Jesus, “the stone which the builders rejected” became the chief cornerstone. (Ps. 118:22, Mt. 21:42) What men discard, God finds to his liking. When men discover that they have nothing but God, then God is willing to supply all the rest. When men have nothing to offer, then God gets all the glory. When we are empty of ourselves, we can be filled with God’s presence and power.

Most everyone that God has used greatly was initially on some reject list. Names like Daniel, Peter, Paul and Moses come to mind. The employment line for Kingdom work is also labeled, “the rejects”. It is the only line from which God hires his “heroes of faith” because they know they must depend on God.

Bob Bedford