Divine Appearance and Commission

What an event for Moses! He is off in the middle of nowhere, minding his business and the flock of his father in law. He comes on this "great sight" and decides to investigate. Then a voice brings him up short, and reveals this situation to be even more unusual than he realized: "Moses, Moses."

Ever wonder how you would have responded? At first, the response Moses gave hardly seems fitting. "Here am I," indeed. God was not looking for him, so why should Moses inform Him of his whereabouts? Well, he wasn't.

With his "Here am I" Moses was not helping God locate him. Rather, Moses announced his availability. Of course God knew that as well, but Moses needed to make that statement of commitment...for his own sake. While his verbal statement and commitment did not go quite as far as Isaiah's "Here am I; send me," it still is a good challenge for each of us.

Where He leads, I'll follow. When He calls, I'll submit. You too? Good!

But there remains yet another application for us, so let's not stop too soon.

Moses responded adequately to God's call so God gave him an overview of the mission for which he had been chosen. I am certain the mission reawakened many old memories and feelings for Moses...because he was being sent back on a mission he had abandoned in failure some 40 years previously. This mission would take him back to the end of his first 40 years of life...and to the end of himself. I can easily imagine myself exclaiming, "Not this again!"

So Moses' recorded reaction makes sense to me: "Who am I to do this?" A good question, Moses, and most fitting. Except it has the wrong focus. Look at God, not yourself! "Certainly I will be with thee." Which could be interpreted as "Since I will be with you, who you are and how you have failed in the past no longer matter."

Might that lesson also apply to you? I know it most definitely does to me, because I am so cowed by the specter of grand visions having been struck down by my own failures. This lesson encourages me with the reality that despite my many and repeated failures, when God calls me to a familiar mission He will not send me alone. He will certainly be with me. And He will just as certainly be with you.

Let's maintain a spirit and disposition of availability. We won't always know precisely for what we are making ourselves available. (Moses surely didn't at first.) But if we can get past that huge hurdle we will be more open to accepting God's plan as He reveals the details to us.

Remember, when the Lord calls us to battle, the battle is always His. We can do the natural thing and get distracted by ourselves (as Moses did twice). Or we can do the right thing by "looking unto Jesus."

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