And he said, “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. Exodus 3:6, ESV

 

Born into a devout family from the house of Levi, at a dangerous time for Hebrew boys in Egypt, Moses’ life was favoured and extraordinary from the very beginning. As his story unfolds, we see how God’s hand was on him. Moses escaped being drowned at birth because of the brave women who feared God more than the Pharaoh – and his order to kill all Hebrew boy babies born at that time.

 

Jochebed, his mother, managed to hide him for three months, then his sister, Miriam, stood near the Nile, watching the reed basket, to see him through safely, and dared to offer Pharaoh’s daughter Jochebed as the Hebrew nurse to care for him until he grew up as an Egyptian prince. And she was paid for nursing him.

 

If anyone thinks a person can be too old to serve God, consider that Moses was eighty years old when he became aware of His Presence again, long after he’d fled Egypt in fear, having killed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. A bush that was burning – yet not consumed – aroused his interest. From it God called to him, though an ordinary shepherd tending his father-in-law’s flock in Midian.

 

Moses was awestruck and terrified when God announced who he was. In light of God’s holiness, and, immediately mindful of his own sin and unworthiness at having abandoned his people, Moses hid his face in reverent fear; and God knew he was ready to hear what he required of him.

 

For Moses tending sheep in the middle of nowhere, the energy of youth long past – what he hears seems impossible. Who was he to face Pharaoh to ask him to allow the children of Israel to leave Egypt? But God knows us, where we’ve come from, what we are doing now, and what he wants of us when he calls.

 

“Who am I that I should go?” was a humble and realistic self-assessment, and important to the purpose God had for Moses’ life. As with the burning bush, it would be God’s power at work in Moses accomplishing that for which he was called; what God required of Moses was a willing heart and complete obedience to him. All Moses needed was God.

 

God still calls people by name from unlikely places, regardless of age, ability, obscurity or qualification. Where might God be calling your name today? Will you, like Moses, notice and hear God’s voice, recognise his holiness, and trust that his presence is all you need?

 

Prayer: “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11) You are all I need. Give me a willing heart and complete obedience to serve you. Amen