Read: Exodus 3
Moses . . . came to Horeb, the mountain of God. (v. 1)
Have you ever experienced a moment in which the gap between heaven and earth felt beautifully thin? Perhaps it came during prayer or somewhere in God’s creation or in time with other believers. The story of Scripture is about a God who constantly thins this gap so that heaven might come rushing back in. In the famous story of Moses and the burning bush, we witness one such instance.
Moses, a shepherd with a complicated past, leads his flocks to the slopes of Mount Horeb and is stopped in his tracks by a flaming bush that doesn’t burn up (v. 3). As the heat of the fire beats at his face, Moses hears his name called from the fire. “Do not come near,” God tells him, “. . . for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” (v. 5).
I’ve asked God to show me signs, to call my name from the depths of a burning fire, and when I don’t experience a moment like Moses did, I easily become discouraged. But I wonder whether we’re sometimes so busy looking for a sign as irrefutable as a burning bush that we miss the way God is speaking to us. Moses was prepared to stop and wonder, to listen to God’s voice. When God seems silent, could it be that our hearts are just too calloused to hear his voice? Could it be that we tread on holy ground without even realizing it?
As you pray, ask God to open your eyes to see him in the world around you.
Justin Kuiper is a student from Holland, MI, studying English literature at Hope College. His own writing explores the many intersections of faith, storytelling, and the created order. Justin is a life-long soccer fan and plays on the Hope College soccer team.
