I’m not sure it had ever occurred to me, but when Moses first sees the burning bush it causes him literally to change direction. “Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up’” (Exodus 3:3). The trajectory his life was leading Moses away from where God needed him to be. He was herding the flocks of his father-in-law, which in and of itself was not a bad thing. But God wanted him herding the people of Israel instead, and with a “great sight” God got Moses’ attention and eventually got him back to Egypt.
I was working for a large insurance company in San Antonio, Texas when God got my attention and sent me off to seminary in Virginia. What I was doing, the trajectory my life was taking, wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t where I needed to be. And while I never saw a “bush that burned but was not consumed” I did finally get the message by other means. Maybe you know what I’m talking about. Maybe at some point in your life God has pulled you out of the fast lane, or away from the drive thru, or off of a side street and compelled you to change direction, to go where God needed you. A colleague of mine once said that for him the sense of call had always been clearest in hindsight. It was when he got somewhere and looked back that he was able to see that God had indeed been at work in his life. Whatever the case, no matter the circumstances, God is at work fitting individuals into roles and tasks for which they are suited so that the work of the coming reign may go on. Don’t be surprised if, after being jarred by some “great sight”, you find yourself changing directions and doing things you have never thought about doing. It may be God calling.
Prayer: Lord, open our hearts and minds to what you are doing in our midst that we may respond with faithful discipleship and may give ourselves to your work. Amen.
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