I AM SENDING YOU
Exodus 3
“Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”
What is the difference between us trying to achieve some objectives and God calling us to achieve the same objectives? We cannot just claim that success only comes when God sends us because that assumes that we cannot get anything done without him; let’s not be simplistic.
Moses tried to do something about the situation the Hebrews were in and it backfired badly, to the extent that he subsequently feels totally inadequate and unaccepted as a leader of his people. He was simplistic in his actions with no plan, no support, acting on his own. When God asked him to lead his people out of Egypt, he could only ask, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
God’s careful communication with Moses lends depth to his response: a demonstration of power so well controlled that a bush can burn without being consumed; a holy presence that is not confined to a particular location but could appear exactly where Moses was; a persevering faithfulness that is true to his promises, as demonstrated in the stories of the Israelites’ forefathers; and a deep loyalty—God remains and remembers his own even when centuries have gone by.
“I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
Who is Moses? Moses is the man God called; the man God will stand behind; the man God will use to lead his people back to the Promised Land.
We are nothing but God is everything and when we stand with God then we are no longer nothing.
Does this mean that we must have a deep and direct sense of God’s calling and purpose before we obey him and do his will? I don’t think so.
John tells us that as Christians we are called God’s children; a calling that is on an even higher level than God’s call to Moses. The more we know him the more we can discern and act in accordance to his will. The more we spend time in his presence, the more we listen, the better we will be at discerning his time. The more we reflect on his Word and study it, the more we will be able to act in accordance with his ways and his wisdom.
Who are you? How would you answer this question?
“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” (John 15:15-16)