Fire Ready
3. And Moses said, “I will turn aside now and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”
4. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said “Moses, Moses.” And he said, “Here am I.”
5. And He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is Holy Ground.”
Exodus 3:3-5
When People Really See the Fire
It was not the plan of God for Moses to simply witness a burning bush, although that was the initial drawing factor. It was not God’s plan to simply tell Moses about the sad plight of his fellow Hebrews although those were the prevailing conditions. It was God’s plan to use the fire to ignite the mission fires for this prophet who thought he had no opportunities for service.
At age eighty, Moses had traveled from the site of service to an abandoned spot on the backside of the desert. There he was in the middle of nowhere, thinking of some nowhere plan for nobody. God spoke into the heart of that lonely and dejected leader, “I am sending you to Pharaoh…” Powerful words, but it had to be ignited by the fire of God.
Fire gives us the ability to see through illumination. The sun is our personal light that provides illumination. We can work, read, see others, and experience lift through this unique ability called sight. Have you ever thought about it; sight means nothing unless there is light.
Many Christians are like Moses; they are inactive in their duties for God because we lack the light to see beyond our immediate needs. Some Christians would devote more time for God, but it is hard to see that as a priority without the light. Some Christians would worship more and worry less if it were not for the fact that there are so many things to worry about that block the light. Some Christians would start to appreciate living in a beautiful world but there is not enough light in them to see and appreciate God’s provisions. The only solution is to call for the light of God by faith. Without the Light of God, we (you and I) will only experience God on the level of bare necessities. It’s what I call the “bottom rung on Jacob’s Ladder;” we only see enough to seek for food, clothing, and shelter. Those who never fire up their faith will never get to the place where they learn to walk in the will of the Almighty. Without God’s fire to light up the hidden places, we will only pay attention to the things for personal benefits. But when God set that bush on fire, then we can see His plan for greater blessing on others.
So here is the question, why do I need God light up things around me? First, we are selfish. Me is all I want to see. Second, we are short-sighted and cannot see God Almighty’s long-term plan. By the way, god does have a plan beyond Corona. Lastly, the cares of this world tend to make us cold and stagnate. God lights things up to not only show what could be but also what things should be.
How can we ever get started with our faith until we start paying attention to God to the things God wants us to see? When God get’s our attention it is a sign for us to get started with God. This getting started may be coming to faith in God. This getting started may be getting started with a new project or mission for God. When God sends a sign to get our attention it is all about “getting started.”
When the Fire is Hot Enough
God lights things up for our illumination. But then God also lights things up for our inspiration. Again, like Moses, we need a lot of inspiration. It was not strange to Moses that his people were in bondage. It was not strange for Moses that they needed someone to lead them to freedom. What was strange for Moses, is that God was calling him for the task. After all, Moses had a “don’t pick me pass.” He had tried before and was not about to try again. Moses had attempted to step into the leadership role that only left him with a murder charge and forty years of mulling over what went wrong. Yet, Moses could not ignore God’s light.
Inspiration is not some mysterious force. Inspiration is the force that moves us to action. It literally means to breath in. As the fire of that bush burned it got into Moses eyes, but it also got into his soul. This was God Almighty speaking to him from the midst of the bush and not some strange occurrence. He was not only seeing, he was hearing the voice of God calling to him. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush.
There are many burning bush situations that we are experiencing in our lives. It is not enough for us to simply acknowledge that we see them. God wants us to be move to action by these situations. Perhaps God spoke to you in the still of the night. God may have spoken to you through an accident or even the passing of a loved one. Whatever you do, do not walk away from God and attempt to block it from your mind. You cannot dismiss God. We may tend to be critical with Moses because of his reluctance to immediately take action, but don’t we do the same. The thing I love about Moses is that he was honest to God. He had taken his shoes off and was not planning to run away as he had before. This was his God Time. Every one of us needs some God Time where we have that in-depth talk about where we are and where we are planning to go from here.
God spoke from that bush and confronted every doubt that was in the mind of Moses. The fire was not only inspiring; it was purging the fear and anxiety from this man who had been broken by time. Moses had to face his doubts. Someone said, “doubt kills more dreams that failure ever will.” How true.
There were three things that had to be deeply embedded into Moses’ heart. First, God is great. That simple inspiration will cause us to go up against any challenger and win because it is rooted in God’s ability. There is no one greater than God.
The second inspiration is the work of God is good. The best thing that we will ever commit to in this life is the work of God. How in the world could Moses refuse such a job offer? How can you and I settle with tending sheep when God has a good work already prepared for us. Here is the catch. God works with you and in you to perform the work. That should inspire us to accept and to serve the Lord with gladness.
Lastly, the mission can be accomplished. Yes it will have set backs, difficulties, and delays, but it will not fail. How dare us to doubt that God can performed the work that He has spoken. To do so would be to accuse God of being untruthful. When we come to the fire and we are inspired, we will leave the fire filled with the vision of the mission accomplished.
Not only must the Burning bush light be bright enough to illuminate and warm enough to inspire; that Light must be powerful enough to consume us. Moses would later say in Exodus 24:17 and Deuteronomy 4:24, Your God is a Consuming Fire… The same God that ignited the bush is the God that ignites our lives. As a matter of fact, it was God’s plan all along to send Moses into Egypt with the Fire of God in his life. So, Moses didn’t reluctantly go to Egypt, he was on fire.
That is the power of God that needs to be demonstrated in the lives of every child of God in our time. If God’s people would catch on fire and not just talk about the fire, we would see change like never before. My prayer is that God would set us ablaze with His presence and fill us with the fuel to ignite the world in love.
The question is whether you are “fire ready?” Has your life been illuminated enough to show the world that God is in you? Are you inspired by the fire of God that your light can shine despite criticism and crisis? Has God consumed all the things in your life that would keep you from His holy service? Are you “fire ready?” God bless you.