Sunday, March 22, 2020

It Began with Fear...

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.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3)
In a sense, this is the beginning of the story of the Exodus. Everything in chapters 1 and 2 set the backstory for us - who Moses was, what was going on with the people of Israel, etc.  But here it begins with God moving someone to do something, and his first reaction is fear.  It really is a common occurance, especially when begun with the fear of God.  He is the One Who knows, Who sees all that has happened and will happen. He knows what I did and what is going to happen to me, and that can be scary - or, it can move us to faithful action.  He knows what I did (like Moses killing a man and running away), and yet He is still talking to me.  He knows what is going to happen (Moses will often complain and sometimes mess up as a leader), yet He invites me to be a part of His plan.  Great things often begin with fear, as long as we do not get stuck there.  May we move foward today with the plans He has for us. 

No comments:

Post a Comment