This is the story of Moses through different phases of his life. Chapter 2 told of how he was born and had to be given up to the daughter of Pharaoh and he grew up in Egyptian palaces. Growing up, he must have had the best toys, and the nicest things in Egypt but He kept going to Goshen (where the Israelites were). This was because his family were Egyptians but his blood were Israelites!
How many times do we find ourselves stuck with people we don’t feel a part of? We roll with them, party with them, laugh with them but feel empty afterwards; we seem burdened and depressed when everyone around us believes we have it all together but we feel a certain emptiness. We sneak around to church though our friends shouldn’t know; we secretly connect with people that look beneath us but we don’t want our class to know…
There came a time when he had to face his identity! When his blood and his comfort collided!! He saw his comfort (Egypt) fighting his heart (Israel) and he had to make a decision; he struck the Egyptian because his heart was with Israel even if his comfort had been Egypt.
Run back all you want but your heart will keep pulling in the direction of purpose.
Now, Moses is in Midian, settled in, found a job, and then married his boss’ daughter and had two kids by her; life is looking good and then one morning…
He goes to work and sees something interesting. A bush is burning but not consumed! We can take a minute to talk about the bush because God uses everything to teach us!
Sometimes we are burning with hunger, pain, regrets, sins, addictions, poverty. Life sets us on fire sometimes and expects us to be consumed. Fire was fire, bush was bush, fire should always burn bush but when God is in there fire loses its potency! What is burning you does not have to consume you because you are supposed to be an attraction! People should look at you twice and wonder why you are not being consumed despite the pain, the loss, the lack… it is because God wants to make you a wonder, He wants you to be the reason someone will come to church, the reason someone has hope, the reason someone stays alive.
Back to Moses, he’s at work on a normal work day and he sees something abnormal. No matter how far (Midian) or how long (40 years) you’ve gone, God knows just how to get you back; a normal church Sunday can turn different, a normal TGIF can end differently, Paul was on a usual trip when Christ met him, David was on a usual errand when he met Goliath, Joseph was interpreting dreams as usual when Pharaoh’s opportunity eventually showed up. Pay attention to what you do usually; God specializes in putting the unusual in the usual; Putting Jesus in Mary’s womb, turning water into wine at a regular wedding, putting you in that usual family; when God is involved, no day is normal, no activity is usual, He can show up at any time and launch you into destiny.
So, Moses saw the bush burning and not getting consumed; he said “I will now turn aside and see this great sight…” but God stopped Him and told him not to come nearer because where he was standing already was a holy ground!
You don’t need to get carried away by the unusual things you are seeing; don’t get carried away by wonders, by money, by your addictions; where you are right now is a holy ground (regardless of where you’ve been or what you’ve done), where you are is a place of surrender
The burning bush is the peculiar thing happening in your life folks; God is in it, His voice is in it but don’t be carried away by it because it is there to direct you to God.
So Moses found God in the midst of the burning bush and found purpose after finding God. Interestingly, he had built a routine and a livelihood for himself but he didn’t have a hard time dropping it all because in purpose lies real success.
Pay attention to the burning bush around you and listen for God in it. God wants to give you a new message but He shows up in your regular and when He does, it is to show you purpose.
Moses spent 40 years in Egypt without relevance until he followed his heart (though wrongly), and then spent another 40 insignificantly! The last 40 was the big deal because he lived them fulfilling his ultimate purpose. It is clear that the ultimate success is found in purpose.
How then do you find purpose?
1. Keep moving! Everyone Jesus called was busy doing something. Whatever good your hand finds to do at the moment, keep at it and clarity will come.
2. Grind! People claim that when you find what you’re supposed to do, the work will always feel like fun. Not true! You’ve got to grind out results and build expertise in whatever you’re doing.
3. Watch out for patterns. Analyze your life thus far and pay attention to patterns. Moses was a defender in Egypt, did it for Jethro’s daughters, and then did it for sheep, before God called him to do it for Israel.
4. Research your ‘fire’. Moses didn’t move on when he saw the bush, he paid more attention and then he heard God. Find out why you love what you love (e.g. games), Ushering etc.
5. Seek God! Everyone needs a burning bush experience, a ‘road-to-Damascus’ experience; the type that Peter described in 2Pet1:18. It brings clarity and assurance.
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