Burning Bush Moments
She was so excited! Graduation was only 2 days away and she would finally be done with high school! Done with being under her parents roof, done with following teachers’ rules and doing what everyone else said she should do. She was going to college and finally able to make her own choices!
She was scared to death!
Excited beyond belief, but frightened out of her mind about being on her own for the first time in her life was creating a bit of anxiety for her shy, 18-year-old introverted self. But she knew where she wanted to go – a small, christian liberal arts college just 45 minutes away from home. She had been to the campus many times and knew she would love it there.
She did. Two years in, majoring in music and loving college life, she was invited to a week-long conference with some friends from another university during spring break. Colorado? Skiing? She’s in!
The conference included skiing for a couple of days, then big group sessions with well-known speakers, break-outs in smaller sessions, small group gatherings, games and activities in the evenings, great food, great fellowship, amazing worship, and time for hikes up in the gorgeous hills.
What she was not prepared for, was conviction.
She was happy where she was before she came. Content.
There was nothing wrong with where she was at her college, or spiritually, she thought. She was doing what she thought was the right thing.
But God had something more.
God had given her a burning bush moment.
She had believed that it was enough that she was a Christian and attending a Christian college. But as she interacted with the other students at the conference she noticed something. They had something she didn’t. These students that attended a “secular” university were closer to God than she was. Their relationship with God was real, alive, and personal.
And God was inviting her into that.
So she had to make a choice. Stay where she was.
Or move.
She chose to move. To transfer. To move out of contentment and into an awakening, and a time of training and discipleship. She would later come to realize, it would be a time when she would learn more things about God and walking with Him than she had her entire life.
“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:5,7
We all encounter burning bush moments. It’s what we do in those moments that can determine the course of our lives.
Every turning point in our lives provides an opportunity to be used by God in a significant way to tell His redemption story and to make His name great. At any point in the routine of our day we are one decision away from a major turning point that forever shapes our lives and the kingdom of God. We must pay attention.
We make our excuses…like Moses did when he encountered his burning bush.
But in the end, it comes down to obedience.
We have to stop waiting for things to make sense in our minds and just go ahead and make the leap. Because God isn’t looking for us to have everything all figured out.
Do you believe that God wants to use you in a significant way? Is He calling you to something? Are you paying attention?
Please don’t miss it.
Don’t wait for things to make sense. Don’t try and have everything all figured out.
Just trust that He already does.
Dear Father. Just like Moses, I feel inadequate. Just like Joshua, I need strength and courage. You promised Moses that you would give him the words to speak. You promised Joshua that you would be with him. Give me the words to speak Lord! Be with me Lord! I thank you that you always keep your promises! Amen.
