This will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you. (Exodus 3:12)
The bush that was burning yet not consumed was the sign God gave to Moses in calling him to be the deliverer of Israel. Who could ever imagine such a thing but God Himself?
Moses had fled from Egypt 40 years earlier when he tried to rescue his people by the might of his own hand. Now God was calling this fugitive murderer into His service; the Sovereign Lord knew He would need to do something striking to convince Moses that it truly was the one true living God who was calling him into service. So God used a burning bush that did not burn up.
I am not suggesting that God still uses burning bushes today to call His people into His service, but I do emphatically assert that God still uses signs that point the way toward His perfect purpose for our lives. God sends every believer a burning bush. The primary point is not what form that sign takes, but rather what it is pointing to . . . and are we sensitive enough to recognize it? And are we willing to obediently go wherever it is leading us?
God can and will use just about anything as a sign to call His children into service. It could be a sermon you are sitting under in which spiritual reality turns into a supernatural conviction of calling. It could by a hymn or praise chorus that suddenly pierces straight to your heart. It could be a conversation with a friend or family member. It could be something you sense being spoken to you during your prayer time. But make no mistake, as a child of God, you will have burning bush experiences that bring you to the place where the voice of God is so clear and present that you simply cannot doubt it, deny it, or delay in responding to it.
God gave me my burning bush experience through my beloved wife. We had talked for years about planting a church, but each talk ended with Kim saying she simply did not sense it was the right time. Then, in 2011, just when I was resigning myself to doing ministry right where I was serving, Kim told me that it was time. There was no doubt God was speaking to me through my wife, and today we are seven years into the most amazing spiritual journey as a church-planting family, experiencing the full gamut of God’s triumphs and trials.
What burning bush has God placed before you? Remember, God never calls the equipped. I can assure you that Kim and I were not equipped to plant a church! But what God does do is equip the called. He will not call you into something without giving you everything you need to get it done. Are you willing to answer your call, regardless of the cost or circumstance? I can promise you from personal experience that it will leave you forever changed for your good . . . and for God’s glory.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 