During just another day with the sheep in the desert, Moses' life was about to change suddenly.
Moses was 80 years old and in early retirement. His people, the Hebrews, were dying in Egypt. During their captivity, they experienced unbelievable oppression. We are still determining what Moses was thinking about in the midst of this. We don't even know if it was a concern to him. But we do know this—it was a concern to God. In Moses' eyes, he was a backslidden sinner, murderer, fugitive with failures, a past, and a skeleton in his closet. You may have fled from situations in your life. You may think you are finished as a leader. God has some magnificent ways of retooling and rebooting.
Being Eighty
Every now and then, we hear about an 80-year-old person starting a new career. For most who reach 80, they're coming down the homestretch, rounding the final turn, collecting Social Security, and, yes, if in good health, perhaps learning to play pickleball. Many people never reach 80 — so many things can shorten our earthly life.
Still, Moses is 80 and getting his marching orders from God. Moreover, he will live another 40 years and most of what we remember about Moses will happen during those 40 years. When most people are slowing down, Moses is moving into overdrive. A burning bush changed him and world history 3500 years ago.
It began on an ordinary day, as he had done every day for forty years. Moses meets God on an ordinary day. It's not like he woke up today and said, "My whole life is about to change." At 80, he had every reason to think nothing would change. Just that, He doesn't know God is about to speak. It leads to a crucial insight — 99% of our life is ordinary. It's the same old stuff day after day. You get up in the morning, take a shower, put your clothes on, eat breakfast, get the kids ready for school, go to work, come home, read the paper, watch TV, eat supper, play with the kids, flop into bed dead-tired, and then get up the following day and do it all over again.
Burning Bush
A bush in the desert is not unusual. A bush burning in the desert is not unusual either. But it's extraordinary that the bush burned but was not consumed. That's what caught Moses' attention. Would we walk over to look closer if we saw a burning bush not being destroyed by the fire? God can make any bush burn any time he likes. God can make any bush burn and not be consumed. It reminds us that God can make the ordinary extraordinary. God can use us in our everyday lives even when we aren't doing anything unique or exceptional.
Moses' story reminds us that God can speak to us on ordinary days. We don't need significant, dramatic encounters to hear God's voice. Everyday things are sometimes God's way of speaking to us. Remember Moses when you feel discouraged or like you're not doing enough for God. Remember that God can use you in your everyday life and speak to you through the ordinary things in your life.
I like the quote from Elisabeth Elliot: "Do the next thing. There is always a next thing that needs to be done." This phrase is an excellent reminder that we don't need to have everything figured out to be used by God. We just need to do the next thing He puts before us.
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