Plan

God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.' "This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation. (Exodus 3:15 NIV)

I didn’t speak about this step this past Sunday, but it is an important part of Moses’ story.  God didn’t just want Moses to draw near in a God Encounter, listen to Him, and adjust in his mind.  God wanted Moses to act.  God had a job for Moses to do.  This job had specifics to it and God started to relay the specifics.  There was a plan.

"Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites--a land flowing with milk and honey.' (Exodus 3:16-17 NIV)

The saying has become so common that it is on a bumper sticker now: “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.”  We laugh at it and nod our heads.  Yeah, that’s so true.  But then we go on with our day as though we are stuck.  We act like there is no way to know God’s plans.  We say that God’s ways are higher than our ways and then move on.  The problem with this approach is that God often tells us His plans.  We just need to stay a little longer and listen.  We need to read to the end of the passage.  We need to look at the whole book.  God is telling Moses His plans AND God is telling Moses what part he has to play in it all.  All Moses had to do was listen.

"The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.' (Exodus 3:18 NIV)

God has given me an encouragement in recent weeks.  “If you listen to Me, they will listen to you.  If you follow Me, they will follow you.”  I know this probably isn’t a big “ah ha” for many of you, but for me it was life-altering.  When I am laying out strategic plans, I often spend time worrying about thinks like marketing, communications, and getting people “on board” with the vision.  The two statements above came to me during time of prayer and then flooded my mind with Scriptures from the  Old and New Testaments.  God was letting me know that God has such things covered.  Not only that, when I try to control those things I am often trying to do God’s job.  He’s got the money under control.  He has the marketing plan laid out.  He has the communications strategy ready to go.  I simply need to seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness.  I need to listen to Him for my part of His plan.  I need to follow Him so others will see it in me.  The elders listened to and followed Moses because Moses listened to and followed God.  Pharaoh didn’t listen or follow because he already thought he was a god.  Moses would end up leading millions. Pharaoh would end up paying.

But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go. (Exodus 3:19-20 NIV)

How about you?  After you encounter God, draw near, and listen, do you adjust your plans to match God’s plans?  Do you listen long enough to hear God’s plans?  Do you read far enough to see God’s plans?  When you do, do you follow Him like Moses or fight Him like Pharaoh?

Adjust

Moses is in the right mindset to listen to God.  He noticed the burning bush, walked over to see what was going on, heard God speaking to him, and took off his sandals as commanded.  Moses was listening to God.
So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:10 NIV)
I’m not sure if Moses was thinking about his fellow Israelites still in slavery, but I am sure he would have been happy to hear that God was about to set them free…until God told him to go.  God was about to use Moses as a part of God’s plan.
But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain." (Exodus 3:11-12 NIV)
Moses starts hedging right away.  He was fine with God fixing the problems of the world.  He just wasn’t excited about God wanting him to be a central part of God’s plan.  Moses had a decision to make.  Now that he knows God’s agenda, will he follow it or not.  Moses may have had plans for his life, his marriage, and his family.  All those plans are about to change now, if Moses follows what God is saying here.  Will Moses adjust his life to match God’s plan or not?
Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:13-14 NIV)
How about you?  Do you get yourself to the point where you are really listening to God?  When you do, does God tell you your part of God’s plan?  When you know your part, do you adjust your life to follow God’s plan?  Or do you adjust away from it?

Listen

Often times, when we draw near to God, we want to talk to Him about what is important to us.  We want to share our agenda.  The problem with that approach is that we forget to take time to listen.

The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. (Exodus 3:7 NIV)

God cares about many things in the world.  When we take the time to listen, we may be surprised.  Sometimes God wants to talk to us about something completely different from our worries or agenda.  Sometimes God wants to talk to us about what concerns Him.

So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey--the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. (Exodus 3:8 NIV)

Moses may have wanted to talk to God about his marriage, his children, his job, or his father in law.  God, however, wanted to talk to Moses about the millions of Israelites who were still in slavery in Egypt.  Moses was about to be God’s instrument to change the world.  But first, he would need to listen.

And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. (Exodus 3:9 NIV)

How about you?  Do you draw near to God?  When you draw near to God, do you start off talking about all the things that are important to you?  After that, do you take the time to listen?  Does God want you to be His instrument to change the world?

Draw Near

When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." (Exodus 3:4 NIV)

A God encounter always starts with…well…God.  God calls out to us in many places, times and ways.  Often times we don’t notice.  A sunrise or sunset is just the beginning or end of another day.  We don’t see God.  The breath we take is just another breath.  We don’t stop to realize that it was a gift from God.  Even though we miss many of the “burning bushes” in our lives, every once in awhile we see God.  It is at that moment that God finally has our attention.

"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." (Exodus 3:5 NIV)

God encounters always start out by drawing near to God.  It is one thing to think about God when we see a sunset.  It’s another step altogether to be ready to have a conversation with God.  Moses was willing to begin that conversation, so God makes sure he will keep Moses’ attention.  It’s a little difficult to run after a straying sheep when you’re barefoot.  Moses is told to stop paying attention to his job.  Instead, he gives his full attention to God.

Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3:6 NIV)

How about you?  Do you notice God in the burning bushes of your normal day?  Do you take the time to draw near to God when you notice Him?  Do you make all other priorities less important than Him?  Does it overwhelm you enough to bow down or hide your face?  Do you draw near to God?

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?