Ex. 3:2

"And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed" Ex. 3:2

I must admit that this is not a direct face-to-face encounter between a man and God - but then we have very few true... actually we have NO true face-to- face encounters to discuss. But, this is close.

Moses is doing his thing tending the sheep of his father-in-law, Jethro, when he sees something quite unusual. A bush is burning on the hillside, but it has the appearance of not being consumed. Skeptics tell us that there is an oily bush in the Sinai region that sometimes self-combusts and takes forever to burn. Their conclusion is that this is no miracle. They are wrong. If this was not a miracle, then the Voice heard by Moses was just "thunder" or the "moaning of the wind" through the valleys. And if the Voice was not real, then the message of the Angel of the Lord was not real. And if the message was not real, then the actions of Moses were not inspired. And if the actions were not inspired, then the redemption of Israel from Egypt was an act of rebellion and the results lay a false foundation for Judaism and thus Christianity.

WHEW! That was one long batch of "ifs"!

We know, through faith, that the events of this fateful day in Moses' life were true. Let's note how the burning bush and the Voice of God affected Moses. First, Moses was filled with wonder. (Vs. 3) Second, Moses recognized that he was on holy ground. The Voice spoke of this and Moses took off his sandals. (Vs. 5) Then Moses was humbled by the experience. He "hid his face for he was afraid to look at God." (Vs. 6) Fourth, our man admitted to the One True God that he could not do the task presented him - delivering Israel. (Vs. 11) And it was true. Moses had done the human thing and tried to save one Israelite and had been rejected by both Israel and Egypt. How could he save millions of them? Fifth, Moses tried to get out of the job. "What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say?" (4:1) He was hoping that God would let him off the hook! Moses also tried the "I don't have the skills to do this" trick - and God provided Aaron as a spokesman. Finally, Moses capitulated. He went to Egypt and we know the results.

We face God daily - not in a burning bush - not in a face-to-face confrontation - but He speaks to us. And we often respond like Moses. We are awestruck. "God spoke to ME? How awesome!" We recognize the holiness of the moment. We are humbled feeling unworthy. We admit that we are unable to do the task. AND WE TURN AND RUN IN ANOTHER DIRECTION! Or, we do the "elder brother" thing and become angry. Or, we tell God that HE is wrong and WE are right - that is the humanistic and, I must warn, a
dangerous thing to do.

Few of us follow through like Moses and accept the challenges that come when we meet God face-to-face. We fold under the pressure. But, we must - we absolutely MUST - answer God's call. We will never be satisfied with our lives - and our lives will never be complete - until we do answer the call of God.

Today, look for your own personal "burning bush" and answer the call. Perhaps you have already walked away from the "bush." You can return. Remember, it was burning without being consumed. God is still there. And, He is still calling you. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.