Thought to Ponder: God knows who we are – by NAME!!! Exodus 3: 4 The Message Translation declares: God saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Yes? I’m right here!” It is wonderful to know that He knows who we are – by name!!! The moment when we suddenly have a profound awareness that God is speaking to us is called the moment of truth. For Moses it was the sight of the burning bush, the place where Moses hears the voice of the living God. For anyone of us, it could be an earth-shattering moment, or it could be a moment in the still of the night. But it is the moment when the presence of God breaks in on us. The curious thing is that we never know how long it will take us to reach that point. It is so easy to grow up in the Christian faith. Most of us grow up in a family where it seems as if everything is focused on God, and we are always surrounded by a Christian community. It is so easy to spend all those years in Christian education, perhaps we even graduate with a degree from a Christian college. Maybe there has never a day in your life did not know that Jesus as your Lord and Savior. But then, suddenly something happens – something stops you in your tracks – an event takes place and you realize everything you know about Christian faith is disconcertingly shallow, as shallow as a puddle of water on a sidewalk. It is that moment when life takes a sharp turn – turns from the mad pursuit of everything trivial and meaningless to a deep awareness of God. It may not be a burning bush, but you know – you know! It is an abrupt turning point. You turn, and now you want to know God. It is NOT that you just want to know more about Him – you want to know Him deeply. You want to know Him with all your heart. You are ready to abandon everything just for the sheer joy of knowing Him, for the pleasure of knowing Him with utter honesty and truth. This God who has created all things has called you by name, and now you have a hunger – a thirst – a burning desire to know God. It is the turning point in life at which we can do nothing else but respond to Him who calls us by name. And you respond as Moses does, “Here I am.” He knows everything about us, and there is no place to hide. Imagine that moment. This is God of the universe, the God who created the stars and knows them each by name. Some of you have had the experience of camping out under the stars. You see all those stars – and you know you cannot even begin to count them. All those countless stars, and all those galaxies!! Underneath those stars, you realize how the universe is so huge, so unimaginably vast and huge. You stand there underneath those stars – feeling so very, very small – and then!! God begins to whisper – speaks His living Word – and He is speaking to you!!! He knows us by name – knows you – somehow you realize He knows everything about you. Maybe you have read the gospels, how Jesus seems to know everything about everyone He meets – HE knows! It is that moment in the life of Nathaniel when Jesus describes him as a true Israelite, “in whom there is nothing false. ” Nathaniel is astonished and asks, “How do you know me?” (John 1: 43-49). It is that moment in the life of a rich young ruler who asks Jesus what he needs to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him what he needs to do, “Sell everything – follow Me” (Matt. 19: 21). It is that moment in the life of the Samaritan woman at the well when Jesus reveals to her astonishment that He knows she has had five husbands (John 4: 18). It is that moment in the life of Matthew, the tax collector, when Jesus sees him and tells him to “Follow Me. ”We read, he “got up and followed him” (Matthew 9: 9). It is that moment in the life of Nicodemus who comes to Jesus at night, and Jesus tells him that “no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3: 3). It is that moment in the life of Judas, sitting with Jesus and the disciples in the upper room, when Jesus turns to Judas and says, “Judas, you are the one who will betray me” (Matthew 26: 29). It is that moment in life from which you know you cannot hide. You cannot escape. It is a moment that is both terrifying and comforting – unsettling and reassuring both at the same time. It is terrifying because you realize you can no longer pretend. You know that it is useless to live with the illusion that somehow you might be able to impress God. He knows every secret, every thought, every word you have spoken, and everything you have done. This can be dreadfully uncomfortable. You have that sudden awareness that it is no longer possible to hold the illusion of being worthy of God’s attention or affection Yet, for some unexplainable reason, it is also reassuring. If God knows everything about me, and still willing to call me by my name—this is astonishing!!! He calls out to me—not to terrify me, but to speak to me as a friend. He calls us by name! It removes our fear of being rejected by God. So you stand there in that “burning bush” moment, and you discover you are only able to respond as Moses responds, “Here I am. ”Here I am! Here I am, God!!! This is who I am, You know me. You know my faults; You know my warts, my quirks, my peculiarities. You know my uncertainties, You know my weaknesses, You know where I hurt, you know where I am troubled, and where I struggle. But this is who I am. Did you EVER have a moment like that? When you realize there is no place to go, and no way of escaping? Ever wonder what thoughts Moses might have had at that burning bush? One thought after another, chasing each other through his mind. Ever since he fled for his life from the courts of Pharaoh, he had been a shepherd in the wilderness for forty years. Strange things can happen when you find yourself all alone out in the wilderness. You hear voices. Whispering voices. You see mirages. Weird hallucinations. But out there in the wilderness – alone – it is often the place where God calls you by name. And somehow you know your life will never be the same. Before we go any further, I want to give you a hint of what it is that God is about to do. If you have ever wondered if God sees what you are going through, or whether He hears the cry of your prayers in a time of distress, you need to see this. He comes to Moses in the wilderness at that burning bush, and He says to Moses, “I have seen the misery of My people... I have heard them crying out... I know how much they are suffering... I have come down to rescue them . . . “That’s why He had called out to Moses. God has seen and He has heard the wretched misery His people have endured as slaves, and He has come to rescue them. You cannot read this story without being staggered by the thought that God calls these slaves “my people!” This is the God who knows us, the God who calls us by name. He knows our weakness. He knows our helpless despair. He knows our restless misery. God’s people have lived in Egypt for four hundred years, and God has watched over them and God blessed them. They have been so blessed, that Pharaoh now sees them as a threat, and his response to this threat is harsh. He has subjected them to the cruel life of slaves, and he has ordered that all male children born be killed. God’s people are in bondage, and it is as if they are the living dead. God’s purpose is to rescue his people. He intends to rescue them. Listen to what God says to Moses, “I have seen the misery of my people . . . I have heard them crying out . . . I am concerned about their suffering . . . so I have come down to rescue them” God wants you to know that He has seen your struggles God is alive and active. He has a plan… that plan is YOU!!! EMERGE!!! ( = move out of or away from something and come into view.) We may ask our questions, but God simply says, “I am with you.” It is the promise of the unchanging, all-powerful, everywhere present, all-knowing, eternal, promise-keeping God.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 13:10:01 +0000
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