Resources/Articles
Passing by the Burning Bush
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. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am” (Exodus 3:1-3).
I’ve heard that it’s not an unusual thing to find a bush burning in the desert. Scorching sun, dry air - I can see how it’s bound to happen from time to time. But to see a bush that keeps burning and is not consumed is a miraculous thing to behold. Still, Moses had to stop and notice it. He had to look again in order to confirm that this was no common brush fire. Only when he had turned aside to see did God call out to him, and so began the great prophet’s famous commission.
I wonder what would have happened had Moses not taken the time to turn aside and look. Would the Lord have waited for another opportune time? Would He have thrown in a lightning bolt or two from heaven to call Moses over? When the Lord wants to be discovered, I have no doubt that He will make it where He is seen. But it’s compelling to me that the Lord very often presents Himself in a way that requires men to give a second look, to take a little initiative to go and inquire in order to know that their lives are being graced by the purposes of the Almighty.
The encounter at the burning bush is a defining moment, not just in the life of Moses, but in the story of Israel, the story of mankind’s salvation. That it first involved Moses giving more careful attention makes me pause to consider my own life. Imagining Moses not noticing the burning bush makes me wonder how many opportunities the Lord has laid just off my path, there fore me to notice and turn aside, but I kept going. How many burning bushes have I passed by, dismissing them as common brush fires? The Scriptures tell us for such reasons, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2).
Sure, once Moses turned to give it a moment’s more consideration, the burning bush was a flashing neon sign marking the presence of God. So too are the little chance encounters with people, opportunities that we might take or pass over without any more thought. When we take them, we gain something we’d been praying that God would help us to grapple with, or we touch someone in a way that changes both of us for the better. May God keep touching our lives with opportunities to serve Him and know Him better, and may we make our way through the world with our eyes opened to see them.
