But, God…!

God has such a sense of humor. 

“God answered, ‘I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain…'”

Why would God tell Moses that He would confirm this commission AFTER this little errand had been completed? 

I repeat, God has such a sense of humor. 

This comment marks the beginning of Moses’ courageous “but, God…!?!” speech.  Not that I would have done any better, to be sure.  I love that he begins at this most uninspiring place and ends up in the Hebrews 11 hall of fame, but that’s another story….

God graciously proceeds to give a few more confirmations:  You will find favor in the Israelite leaders, (which, BTW, was short-lived, but God didn’t tell him that part…). He did warn Moses that Pharaoh won’t be happy and bad things will happen, but the Egyptian neighbors will give you all their wealth, and then you’ll be on your way.

God also didn’t share the part about the Egyptian magicians doing some of the same tricks with the water to blood and staff to snake thing.  (I can only imagine what a surprise that one was for Moses while he was standing before Pharaoh!)

God did let Moses in on Pharaoh’s obstinate behavior and that there would be some pretty earth-shattering things take place, but as to the number and nature of these circumstances, I guess that was on a need-to-know basis. 

I’m thinking that most of what God is doing in our lives and circumstances in on a “need-to-know” basis as well.  Most of us don’t have the luxury of a burning bush experience, but all followers of Jesus have someOne better, that is, the Holy Spirit.  I know, I know, seems like the miraculous would make things a heckovalot easier, and certainly God can and does still give us some pretty astounding signposts, even in the 21^st century.  But perhaps, as a general rule, He is after something more intimate, much more.

The writer of the book of Hebrews says that faith is the evidence of things NOT seen.  As someone has wisely said before, once you see it, it’s no longer faith—it’s fact.  And Jesus is really into this thing called faith. 

I might not have the map laid out before me, and I might even end up taking a few detours by mistake.  But this one thing I have, which is a promise to all of God’s loved ones, and it echoes from a bush that caught fire long ago:

“God answered, ‘I will be with you.'”

Ex 3:12 Tyndale House Publishers Inc (2008-06-01). The One Year Bible NLT (One Year Bible: Nlt Book 2) (Kindle Locations 3295-3297). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

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