Moses, after adventures and misadventures in Egypt that took him from privilege and power in the palace of Pharaoh (the Egyptian King) to exile in the wilderness taking care of his father-in-law's sheep, found himself with the flock "beyond the wilderness" (Exodus 3:1). "Beyond the wilderness" seems to me to be about as far removed from everything as one can get, a place you'd expect to be a "Godforsaken" place--and with all that happened, his life probably felt pretty godforsaken, too. And yet, in the midst of his personal and physical "godforsaken-ness"--lo and behold, he encounters God.

God meets Moses in what would be expected to be a godforsaken place, and God speaks a calling into what feels to Moses like a godforsaken life.

Yahweh God (Moses gets God to tell him God's name, which is Yahweh--Hebrew for "I am who I am") speaks to Moses out of a bush that is burning, but not burning up--somehow the leaves and branches remain intact as the fire rages. God tells Moses that Moses is to go back to Egypt, to the new Pharaoh (the one Moses had known had died) and tell him to "let my people go"--to free the Israelites from being slaves and allow them to leave, to go to a land which God promises to them. Moses raises several reasons why this is a bad idea, and particularly a bad idea for Moses to be the one to do this--which somehow he feels perfectly fine about arguing, even with God speaking out of a bush that is on fire (like it's a normal kind of conversation to have). God answers each of the reasons that Moses gives about why Moses can't.

Finally Moses, still completely skeptical--still feeling not only that his life is "godforsaken", but that that will seem obvious to anyone else, says "What if they say you didn't sent me?" Moses is still questioning his own credibility. Then comes a reminder of both God's power, and God's ability to use what we have--even if we don't see what we have as anything God can use: "The Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ He said, ‘A staff.’" (Exodus 4:2)

Moses has been herding sheep. He has the tool for doing that--a staff, a long stick that can also be a walking stick. God asks him to throw it on the ground, and it turns into a snake. God asks him to pick up the snake, and it turns back into a staff. God does this to remind him that God can use what we have to bring about what God wants.

With that staff, Moses will part the Red Sea. With that staff, Moses will strike a rock and water will pour out. With that staff, Moses will lead the people to their freedom from Pharaoh and through the wilderness to the brink of the Promised Land. With God's power, God can cause what we have to be used in ways we would never imagine, as we are aligned with what God calls us to do. Trusting in God's power working through us, using what we have, the possibilities are beyond our imaginations!

Exodus 3:1-12; 4:1-5

1 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’ 4 When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ 5 Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ 6 He said further, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

7 Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10 So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’ 11 But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ 12 He said, ‘I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.’ . . .

1 Then Moses answered, ‘But suppose they do not believe me or listen to me, but say, “The Lord did not appear to you.”’ 2 The Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ He said, ‘A staff.’ 3 And he said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ So he threw the staff on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses drew back from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Reach out your hand, and seize it by the tail’—so he reached out his hand and grasped it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5‘so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.’