journey onWord with us

You’ve probably had one of those please write it in the sky, God moments, or maybe you’ve even prayed and asked God to give you a burning bush experience.  You needed direction and felt there was only one way to get it … God’s direct intervention in your circumstances.  You would do anything for clarity and help, even if it meant making promises to God that you meant in that moment, but would never keep.  Defining moments come to all of us, and they usually affect our future.  Truth is, if you or I ever saw directions written in the sky or a burning bush that was not consumed, we’d probably head straight for the psychiatrist.  It was a burning bush, however, that Moses needed, and was the life-altering way God chose to communicate with him.

When Moses arrived at the burning bush, he brought with him a rich and storied past.  Forty years as the prince of Egypt, and another forty years as a shepherd.  You may have heard the shepherd years called his backside of the desert experience.  One day while tending his sheep, Moses was confronted with his future and God’s plan for him. God had chosen Moses to be the deliverer of Israel.  As you can imagine, he was less than confident about God’s plan.  However, in the face of low self-confidence, he chose to follow God.  We are also faced with critical choices; to follow God or do life our own way.

You may remember standing at a crossroad, looking back at the past and wondering about God’s literal plan for your future.  Have you ever reviewed the past, present and future of your spiritual journey and concluded that yesterday was better?

As I rub shoulders with Christ-followers, I am struck by the fact that so many have lost their zest for the journey.  They can remember spiritual milestones and answers to prayer, but there are also fresh memories of church hurts, and being bruised along the way. Churches are filled with individuals who once served and used their gifts but are now fading into the background.  For all of us there will need to be seasons of rest or healing, but those seasons should be just that — seasons.  Those seasons should never be prolonged at the expense of missing the Father’s future design for us.  Moses had eighty years of life experiences when God confronted him with a new phase of his journey.  I am so glad and encouraged that even through his excuses, he obeyed.

You may not be standing in front of a burning bush, but you are standing at the threshold of tomorrow with new opportunities.  Don’t let anything in your past become a weight that holds you back from the future God has designed for you.  Your emotions may say yesterday was better and cause you to look at tomorrow with a clouded view.  God didn’t waste adversity in the life of Moses, nor will He for you.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2

As you move forward from today, Moses is a great example of faith. Jesus needs to be the focus of our eyes for the next phase of our journey. We don’t need to look for burning bushes, or scripted skies, but He still speaks.  We, like Moses, have a choice … follow God or do life our own way.  Moses was at the threshold of the rest of his journey and God gave him a flaming introduction.  With God as the designer of our lives, we should never think that yesterday was better.  As we stand at the threshold of tomorrow, when God speaks will we listen … and will we obey?