Exodus – Page 12 – Be Still…

Exodus 3:11-22 – Provision from God

Now it’s time to hear what Moses has to say about his assignment. “Who me?” seems pretty appropriate. Confronting Pharaoh and leading a multitude of Israelites to freedom does not sound like a simple task. Moses at first doesn’t feel anywhere near qualified for this. You may be recognizing yourself in some of these excuses. When God calls us to act, we need to be obedient. Although, that’s sometimes easier said than done. Maybe it will help to remember you’re not alone.

As for Moses, he is thinking fast on his feet, seemingly to get out of this mission. He’s coming up with excuses or what-ifs. I feel confident in saying we do the same, don’t we? I don’t think it’s just me. When a new task with great challenge faces us, do we accept it right away or do we have conversations going on, questioning what-if this or what-if that? We want answers just like Moses did.

Exodus 3:1-10 – Meeting God

Read Exodus 3:1-10

It started like any other day. Moses was tending sheep. He had probably kissed his wife goodbye and headed out for a day in the hot sun. Never in a million years did he expect to meet God that day. God will show up for us in unexpected places, too. We need to be watching.

I have seen this scene portayed in different ways. Watch HERE.

I loved what Moses said, “Here I am.” There was an openness and vulnerability in that statement. Moses answered an unknown voice, why? Out of curiosity? Respect? He didn’t know this burning bush was God, did he? But he was fascinated. What kinds of emotions do you think were coursing through his veins at this moment?

Exodus 2:16-25 – New Beginnings

Read Exodus 2:16-25

Having fled for his life, Moses is soon welcomed into a new community. The Midianites would have been a people living in the Sinai Peninsula area between Egypt and Israel. There is not a lot known about them from what I have read. What we do see is how God has opened their hearts to be part of Moses’ story. Moses’ own people, the Israelites, don’t recognize him. The people who adopted him, the Egyptians are out to kill him. Yet the Midianites have welcomed him with open arms.

Moses is given a wife and we hear about his first son, Gershom. Moses recognizes he is a foreigner in a foreign land. I understand how that feels now that we live in Mexico. I had never given it much thought for the 50+ years I lived in my home country. Living in different cities always posed a new challenge, but the culture was the same. In Mexico, so many things are different from anything I’ve ever known. It goes way beyond the language barrier of which I’m crushing. I’m embracing the fact I am now the foreigner in a foreign land. I rely all the more on God to show me how I can make a difference here.

Exodus 2:11-15 – No One’s Watching

Read Exodus 2:11-15

Can you imagine what it was like growing up as an Israelite wearing Egyptian clothes? Moses had to be so conflicted. He was probably immune to the suffering of “his” people living in the palace with his princess mother. It was probably a very posh upbringing, compared to what it would have been had he stayed with his birth mother.

In today’s passage, we see a frustrated Moses. He obviously knew they were “his” people and wanted to connect. His visit was probably innocent enough, at first. What he saw, an Egyptian beating one of the Hebrew slaves. That behavior wasn’t acceptable, but it seems Moses’ anger burned deeply as if he was the one being attacked. What did he do?

Exodus 2:1-10 – Meet Moses

Read Exodus 2:1-10

When you know a Bible story because you have read it, watched it on the big screen (The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston), taught it in Sunday School for years, and read it some more…it can be hard to read it fresh. If this is your first time through the book of Exodus, fantastic! I’m so glad to have you here. But, if you’re like me, I challenge you to read as if it’s the first time. Allow God to show you something new.

That’s really my hope in writing these devotionals. As I am reading through the passages and reflecting on what they mean to me, I’m doing my best not to look ahead. The story will never change, but how it speaks to me can and will. If I let it. With all that being said, was there something that jumped out at you today?