The first two chapters of Exodus have set the scene for one of the greatest escapes of all time, and chapter three is the moment where God will call a leader to see the people through those challenging times. We’re probably all familiar with the story of where Moses meets God at the burning bush, but I was struck this morning by a small phrase in the first verse of that chapter. Exodus 3: 1 tells us that Moses led the flock far into the wilderness until he came to Sinai, the mountain of the Lord.
Moses was God’s chosen leader to shepherd the people of Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness to the Promised Land. So what we see him doing at the beginning of this chapter is in line with his God-given gifting, but is only a shadow of his true destiny: he’s leading and caring for sheep instead of leading and caring for people.
All kinds of things can prevent us from stepping up to what God has for us in life. It could be fears or laziness that hold us back; it could be difficult circumstances or opposition from other people; it could be our own sin and disobedience. In Moses’ case, it was his deep sense of failure: he had tried once before to help the Hebrews and had failed badly, ending up killing a man.
When such things happen, they often catapult us into a wilderness journey. Moses had fled from Egypt and settled down in the desert of Midian; he even married and started a family there. And on this particular day, in Gen 3: 1, he goes even further into the wilderness, until he finds himelf at the place whre God’s presence dwells.
It’s easy for us to settle down, like Moses, in the dry desert place and get so used to it that it becomes our “norm” and we forget that it’s wilderness terrain. We may even have forgotten the failure, the disappointment, the unanswered prayer or the unconfessed sin that started us heading in that direction in the first place. Sometimes, like Moses, we need to venture far into the wilderness place before we’re truly ready to meet with God.
The wilderness is not intended to be God’s final destination (or destiny) for any of us. Perhaps, like Moses, we’re called to go to a particular place or do a specific task. Perhaps we’re simply called to stay right where we are, and to live in such deep friendship with God that we make our neighbours, friends and family hungry for Jesus. Either way, the moment and the place where we embrace that calling is special and sacred. As God says to Moses in verse 5, “This is holy ground."
Have you met with God on holy ground? Have you embraced His holy calling on your life, or have you settled indefinitely in the wilderness place? During this Easter weekend where we celebrate the joy and power of the resurrection, let’s not settle for a desert experience, but let’s push on to the place where we can truly encounter God.
