How faint the whisper we hear of him!
Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”
(Job 26:14 NIV)
“Once upon a time,” as all good stories begin, there was a shepherd who was tending his flocks on the mountain. One day he saw a bush that was on fire. Since there had been no storms or lightning strikes, a burning bush was very odd. Even more strange was that, as he watched, he realized that the bush wasn’t being consumed by the fire. Instead, it just burned steadily.
Ok. Stop the story.
Moses is at a decision point. Should he go check out the burning bush or just walk by? I mean, the sheep still need tended. He’s responsible for protecting them from predators, finding good grass for them, and supplying adequate water. Getting distracted by every little thing in the wilderness is a good way to lose sheep. On the other hand, if he leaves the sheep and goes to check it out, what will he find? Since we know the end of the story, we know that he finds God has a message for him.
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!” (Exodus 3:1-4 NIV)
Moses chose to investigate “this strange sight.” Because he had gone over to look, God could speak to him. If he had ignored the fire or walked away, would God have spoken to him? Maybe? Maybe not?
Either way, this is a good reminder for us today.
Sometimes God speaks to us through large, impressive, hard-to-miss “burning bushes” in our lives. But, more often, he chooses whispers and small internal nudges. It’s easy in the busy, chaos, and noise of our day to miss these much more subtle messages, but God does want our attention. We may or may not realize that, whether loudly or quietly, God is always wanting to communicate and commune with us. The more we are tuned in to what’s around us and within us, the more likely we are to hear God’s Voice.
Today, may we choose to have eyes, ears, and hearts that are listening to God. May we choose to pay attention to not only the “burning bushes” but also the gentle whispers and internal nudges. And may we know the Voice of our Lord, in whatever setting he speaks.
God of the Thunder and the Whisper,
Tune our spiritual senses to you. Help us choose to pay attention to You, like Moses did at the Burning Bush. Speak to us…Help us listen. We ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,
to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven
and sends it to the ends of the earth.
After that comes the sound of his roar;
he thunders with his majestic voice.
When his voice resounds,
he holds nothing back.
God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding. (Job 37:2-5 NIV)