When the Lord Saw that he Turned Aside to Look

 “Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.  The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.

SO Moses said, ‘I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.”  

 “WHEN” (time phrase) “the LORD saw that he turned aside to look,

God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.”  Exodus 3:1-4

Do you see the progression?  Moses determined within himself to take a closer look and investigate (to take notice).. and when the Lord saw that Moses took notice, He called to him.

      How many ‘burning bushes’, in a sense, do we just walk right by (especially in the busy-ness of the days)?   How many times would the Creator of the whole universe (Who spoke and all came into being) like to speak to us, His children, and we are too busy with our own thoughts and lives and concerns to ‘notice’.  


      May we say like the boy Samuel (as a child), “Speak Lord, Your servant is listening.”  And then pay attention to even the quiet, simple impressions/thoughts that flash across your thoughts and determine to take notice.

      Ask God to make you aware of all the ways He may desire to speak to you.  He truly is creative- a creative Creator!

       Allow me to share such an example.  One day, years ago, as I was just in my daily ‘reading through the Bible’ reading in Luke.  I read a passage and simply ‘heard’ a direction, ‘Go back; read it again’.  I reread the passage and heard the same direction, ‘Go back’.  And again, nothing- it was just a familiar passage of some fisherman who were told by Jesus to put out their nets for a catch after not having a successful night of fishing.  “Lord, what do you want to say to me through this?”  And about the fourth or fifth time of being obedient to the call to go back and re-read and asking God why (‘I must turn aside now and see’ why I have to keep going back to these verses….),  He SUDDENLY opened and unfolded the text to me with all kinds of application and personal teaching for my life, which then became that LONG “I Will Do As You Say” series that I just posted based on Luke 5.  Had I not been obedient to that simple directive or too busy that day, just wanting to put a check mark by that day’s reading and move on, I would have missed out!


"The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple."  Psalm 119:130

“When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him…”  Exodus 3:4