Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked and behold the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. When the Lord saw that he had turned around to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." (Exodus 3:1-2, 4-5)

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At this point in his life, Moses was not, by the world's standards, what could be considered a successful man. Rejected by both his fellow Israelites and his adoptive Egyptian family, he ran to Midian. For many years he labored as a shepherd, not building his own wealth, rather tending the flocks of his father- in-law, Jethro.

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Perhaps by this point in his life, he had resigned himself to this humble existence. But God was not interested in how influential, talented, or worthy Moses was. Calling him from the burning bush, God restored him to his familial and spiritual heritage. The Lord would place a mantle of leadership on Moses for an epic mission. His humble and trying years in the Midian wilderness were God's training ground.

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A burning bush in the wilderness was not out of the ordinary; that it was not consumed most definitely was. The Lord waited until He had Moses' full attention before He called him by his name.

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We, like Moses, may have humble, seemingly unimportant lives. Perhaps we feel isolated or rejected and purposeless. Yet we can be assured that our Creator knows us by name.

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He calls to us, longing to reveal His love, purpose, and plan for our lives. When we give Him our full attention and yield our lives fully to His grace, our past, present, and future become enveloped in His unquenchable light.

 

Questions to Ponder: Do I view my circumstances negatively and having no purpose? How can I see God's hand in getting me through? What are the lessons to be learned? Am I open to hearing God's voice? Have I set aside time and focus to do this? Am I ready to follow through in obedience in response to His direction?

 

Prayer: Remember that our past and present may be God's training ground for our future. May we be thankful for how the Lord works in and through every circumstance and season of our lives. May we be open and ready to give God our undivided attention, laying aside the distractions of life. As He speaks into our lives, may we have faith and strength to walk in obedience to His word.