It is one of the great moments in the Old Testament. Some might even argue that it is the most important. Moses finds himself a stranger in a strange land—the land of Midian, to be precise, on the east bank of the Gulf of Aquabah. He winds up there because he has murdered an Egyptian; and fearing for his own life, he has no choice but to head for the hills.

In time Moses meets and marries a Midianite woman, settles down, and begins tending sheep for his father-in-law on the slopes of Mt. Horeb. And somewhere up there on that scrubby patch of wilderness is when the moment happens. A bush suddenly bursts into flame. Leaf and stem start blazing and crackling, as if the air itself was on fire. However, even though the bush burns hot and bright, it is not consumed!

Then, in that flaming moment, a loud voice also flames up; and of all the things that it could have said, Moses is startled to hear his own name being called. “Remove your sandals,” the voice continues, “for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” Who would have believed it? That barren stretch of no-man’s-land that Moses has fled to for no motive holier than to save his own skin, is holy—filled with the fiery presence of God!

Like many of you, I have often wished that I could have such an experience—a moment when I heard God’s voice speaking with a clarity that was undeniable, and witnessed God’s white-hot presence burning right there in front of me.

“Why doesn’t God do something like that in my life?” I’ll ask myself. But if you go back and reread the story, you’ll notice that God doesn’t actually start speaking until Moses stops what he’s doing and starts paying attention.

In other words, the bush bursts into flame spontaneously—but the voice of God patiently waits until Moses decides to take a closer look. If he had chosen to ignore it, or run from it, then there may not have been a voice at all.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that maybe we are surrounded by burning bushes—glowing reminders that our seemingly ordinary lives are holy ground too! We just need to take the time to stop and listen.