Ever feel like God has lost track of you?  That the wilderness of your life seems to be devoid of His attention?

After forty years of herding sheep I’m sure Moses thought maybe God was busy with other things and would leave him alone to live out his, now, uneventful life.  Besides, he had done enough for one lifetime, right?  Hebrew baby, river orphan, Egyptian prince, murderer, unsuccessful liberator, number one on Pharaoh’s Most Wanted list, fugitive, etc.  The rest of life lived out with predictable, harmless sheep would be just fine. 

But God hadn’t misplaced Moses.  He is the God who does not change in His basic character and nature.  And He has always been the God that pursues.

And don’t think that the Creator isn’t creative in how He pursues.  The bait: a burning bush.  Now really, who but God would think of that!  But it worked.  The Hebrew, river orphan, Egyptian prince, murderer, unsuccessful liberator, number one on Pharaoh’s Most Wanted list, fugitive, showed up right on cue. 

Moses discovered that God was in the middle of his path.  He had pursued him into the desert.  He had not forgotten him.  God had been waiting for the desert of solitude to do its work on this arrogant, rash man.  He had him in the wineskins of tending sheep so that some much needed qualities would come to maturation. 

And what is more, He had a job offer.  God had to do a little kind arm-twisting to get Moses to understand that this assignment was what his life was really about and that the desert was a place of preparation not a destination.  But in the end, the God who pursues changed the world by changing the direction of this man.

And at that moment, this demand that he go back to Egypt and try again under God’s direction what he had failed to accomplish under his own steam, didn’t feel like goodness and mercy following him into the desert.  But that is exactly what it was. 

For Moses, the burning bush would become the burning mountaintop where he would talk face to face with God, like one man talks with another.  A new passion would possess his life: the Glory of God.  And he and the world would never be the same.

So, your wilderness is not a destination.  God never wastes the lives of his servants.  He pursues.  It might be a burning bush or a burning paycheck.  But listen, and you may discover you are standing on holy ground.

… Pastor Gary