Responding to God with a "Here I Am Lord"

February 25, 2021

Lynn Brown

Responding with “Here I am Lord” Hi this is pastor Ken and normally I would be giving you my thoughts on a Thursday, but my sweet wife was reading in God’s word earlier this week and she shared something with me that I wanted her to share with you. So, this week we will be hearing from Lynn and she will give you her thoughts on a Thursday… We know that from the very time of his birth, Moses was protected and preserved by God for a purpose. Later on we learn that he is tasked with seeing the Israelite children - an entire people group, out of their bondage in Egypt. So today I’d like to start in chapter 3 and read from the beginning through verse 14. Exodus 3:1-14 (NKJV) Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” Now there is a lot more to be gleaned from this book of Exodus but I’ve been learning to stop reading when something catches my thoughts and ponder it, so let me share what I feel these verses have been saying to me. God speaks in unexpected ways (from a burning bush no less) here we see that when God called his name, Moses simply said “Here I am” — he didn’t wonder who or even if he heard right, he simply RESPONDED. When our Father calls our name, WE need to respond! No questions asked... I don’t know if you’re like me, but If I’m honest, I’ve not always been willing to stop and listen when I hear from the Lord. Though I am learning to hear His voice, feel His nudge or see His direction, I can be pretty strong willed and sometimes desperately need to be reminded He knows best, and I just need to follow. Ironically, just after he proclaims “Here I am” Moses proceeds to question whether or not he is fit for the task the Lord has set before him. Moses continued to ask several questions that were self-centered you could say...who am I to do this thing? Who shall I tell them sent me? God finally answers Moses in all capital letters in my version of the Bible...I AM WHO I AM! Now in today’s culture when a person uses all capital letters they are, in essence, shouting at us. Using capital letters exclusively is considered a way to emphasize written text, and I can imagine God may have felt some frustration having to remind Moses who was boss...I mean, prior to this there is no shortage of examples of God being God in Moses’ life. Perhaps I’m not the only person God has to shout this reminder to? It appears to me that Moses’ focus was on what he couldn’t do, until God reminded him that HE was the driving force behind what he was asking of Moses, which got me thinking about my own life. There have been times -at all ages and stages in my life, that when challenged with hard tasks, I fretted, worried, dare I even admit complained. But then on the other side of the situation, often I am able to look back and see the many ways the Lord had helped and intervened, and I see any success I may have had can be attributed to my own ability. Let’s look at that last part from today’s reading again, “So He (God) said, I will certainly be with you.” Now I’m not sure what situations you will specifically be dealing with this week, this month or this year, but I do know this: what is written in my Bible was not merely to catalog the history of people in ages past, but it can speak to us today, in any situation. God says to US, I will certainly be with you - “certainly” like in a you-can-take-that-to-the-bank way...He WILL be with us in any situation, so call on Him, remind him of this promise. It’s for us too, and even more importantly, we should live our lives here knowing he IS with us and should also live in such a way that when we are no longer here, we ARE WITH Him! That is the goal, the prize and the promise for those who live and love like He did. So now, in the full confidence that He is with you, listen for his voice, RESPOND to His call, and go be awesome!