Week 23: Day 1

Intro: Hello, my name is Damilola, welcome to today's Orbit devotional. Today's passage is going to be Exodus chapter three, verses 1-6.

Bible: Let me read for us:

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, ‘I will go over and see this strange sight – why the bush does not burn up.’

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’

And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’

'Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ Then he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Thoughts: In my hands, are a pair of headphones, and I love these bad boys, because I love music. Music is one of my very favourite things. And on a good day, I put these on, listen to some music, and they lead me further into joy. On a bad day, I put these on. And what I'm looking for, is a means of escape, a means of avoiding the things that I'm finding difficult, these distract me, and lead me away from the things that are causing me pain and discouragement and sadness.

And when we meet Moses, in this passage, he's not quite having a good day, he's in, not just a day, but a season of discouragement and disappointment in his life, his life has taken a few wild turns, and he goes from living in the palace of Egypt, to killing a man and living life on the run. His current reality is very, very different to anything you would ever have hoped for, or expected. And yet we see God come and appear to Moses, in this way, in this passage, and the first thing that comes to mind is Wow, the power of God, God is able to set a bush on fire, and yet it not burn up. Moses like you and I was taken aback by how awesome this is quite incredible. God is able to do so much. So yes, in this incident, we see the power of God. But we also see the tenderness of God, the pursuit of God.

You see, Moses is discouraged in this moment. And like me with my headphones, he has doubt and discouragement around his ears and around his heart. And so, I believe God is coming to Moses in this way, yes, to show his power, but also to get his attention, to bring him back from the place that doubt and discouragement has taken him, and to bring him back face to face with who God is, and what he's longing to do in his life.

And so, for you and I, as we go into this day, how might God be trying to get our attention? And how can we respond by giving our attention to him?

I believe that's God's invitation for us today. And let us pray and ask the Spirit to help us in this.

Prayer: Father, thank you so much for your kindness, and your greatness, that you are a God who is full of power and can do amazing things that blow our minds. And yet you're also the God who is full of tenderness, of kindness, of mercy. And you come and meet us at our lowest moments to remind us of who you are. And I pray today, that you would help us not choose the path of escape and distraction. But that you would help us to be aware of and alive to what you're doing with us today. What you're saying to us, in your word and through those around us. Spirit of God, would you help us pay attention to a wonderful God today. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Challenge: Now my challenge for you today is yes, I believe God is speaking to you and I telling us that he wants to get our attention. But I also know that God wants to use us to get other people's attention to let them know how loved they are by him, how he's not forgotten them. So, I'd love you to think of something that you can do to show to someone around you to communicate to someone around you that God loves them and is trying to get their attention. This might be doing a chore that you've been asked to do for ages. Or it might be sending someone and note telling them that they're loved and cared for by God. Or it might be you picking up a chocolate bar for a friend. I encourage you to do this act of kindness and then let the person know. Do you know what I'm doing this day because I think God wants to get your attention. Tell you that He loves you.

Outro: Thank you so much for listening. Goodbye.