Encounter God

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. (Exodus 3:1 NIV)

Moses went to work for the day.  He probably wasn’t planning on meeting with God that day.  He had a job to do.  His father-in-law, Jethro, had given him a job in the family business.  Moses was the shepherd for Jethro’s flock.  He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness to a mountainside.  Horeb doesn’t mean “mountain of God” in the original Hebrew.  It means “waste.”

There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.(Exodus 3:2 NIV)

It makes sense that a fire might occur out in a hot, dry desert – especially in a place that is named “waste.”  It’s a desert wilderness out there.  No, seeing a fire probably wasn’t a surprise for Moses.  The surprise takes place when he watches the fire.  You know how that goes.  Put a little fire in the fireplace or fire pit and its easy to get mesmerized.  You can just sit and watch the flames dancing and popping.  Moses may have done the same thing.  Then it hit him.  The bush wasn’t burning up.  The flames weren’t dying down.  The fire wasn’t going out.

So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up." (Exodus 3:3 NIV)

Moses was about to encounter God.  The God who created the heavens and the earth was about to have a conversation with Moses and Moses had no idea that it was coming.  Moses thought he was just going to work like any other day.

How about you?  Did you go into your day expecting to encounter God?  Or did you simply plan to go to work, go to school, or work on your task list of things to do?  Does God do things to get your attention?  Do you notice them?  Will you encounter God today?