Holy Ground

Please read the 3rd chapter of Exodus before proceeding. 

Moses's life seemed to be on hold at this season, but God was working behind the scenes. Now He will do something unlike anything that had ever happened. The burning bush experience. 

Moses was doing what he could, where he could, when he could and hoe he could. I am sure he was just missing the "why." He wasn't idle in exile. He was producing while God was preparing. 

God had Moses in a place where He could have his full attention. 

In the palace, things would have been complicated.

Among the throngs of Jews he would be distracted. 

But here! This is a place where God's sovereignty is put on glorious display. 

No doubt, between the ages of 40-80, Moses thought he was a washed up, has been. He was a prince, he was a power, he was an influence. But now, in his lonely place, he is unable to be a leader, except for sheep. Unable to effect change, except the next bleak pasture. But look what God had in store! 

This area was as forbidding as you can imagine. It wasn't the desert, it was the BACK SIDE of the desert. Whoa!

God shows up in the most unexpected of places and in the most unusual ways. 

Moses sees a bush burning. No big deal. It's the desert. Plants are dry, bushes burn. 

But, 1: the bush isn't consumed. 2: it speaks to him! 

"Moses, take off your shoes, you are on holy ground." Holy ground? The desert near Horeb? This is the last place a person might expect God to show up, and an unlikely place to be called holy.

God's presence makes a place holy. 

I led my son to the Lord in Sam's Town Casino, Laughlin, NV. Boom! A gambling Mecca is sanctified. 

I led five wanna be gang-bangers to the Lord on a curb next to a dumpster in Posada del Sol, gangland, El Centro, CA. Yes! The barrio is made holy. 

In the hood, where folks of my color are not welcome after dark, and not welcome much before dark, with catfish hanging in a tree ready for skinning, and an ancient black gentleman rocking on his porch, my pastor and I were asked to sing an old spiritual. The Spirit of the Lord sanctified that porch as we sang, "When I'm growing old and feeble, stand by me, When my life becomes a burden, And I'm nearing chilly Jordan, Oh, Thou lily of the valley, stand by me.  I was ready to take my shoes off. 

So yeah, God's presence in Horeb's desert, or, in your desert makes that place holy ground. 

Moses did something that we might miss if we are not careful. He turned aside to see this interesting phenomenon. He might have just turned up his Pandora and moved the sheep down the trail, but he paused.

We miss so much because we really aren't paying attention. The TV is on, the radio is playing, people are chattering, activity is ongoing. The din of society can be maddening to the senses and muffling to the soul. 

But God has something to say to each of us, though we are either on sensory overload or we are out like a light bulb. How Important that you allow yourself a regular "God time" away from the cacophony of this culture. If we continue to ignore the still small voice of the Lord when winds and fires and storms are competing for our attention, we may be a candidate for our own visit to a desert place for a personal tete-a-tete with a fiery bush. 

This desert encounter Moses experienced changed the world. Without overstating, could I say that each and every encounter with God is possibly, probably a world changer also? It could and should change your world. It may change the world of others also: that person you reach with the gospel, that friend you touch with God's love, your spouse you impress by your changed attitude. 

So, sometime soon, take off your shoes, encounter holiness,  hear God's instruction and spend the rest of your years becoming all that God wants you to be.