One of my favorite biblical passages is the story of Moses . . .

One of my favorite biblical passages is the story of Moses and the burning bush.  Moses is out tending the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro, when he sees a bush that is on fire, but somehow, mysteriously, is not being consumed by the flames.  With his curiosity now piqued, he decides to go and investigate this inexplicable phenomenon.  It is then—and only then, mind you—that Yahweh calls out to him!

There’s an old philosophical chestnut—If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?  Well, along the same lines, I wonder if Moses would have heard the voice of God, if he had not turned aside to look more closely at this strange spectacle.  It may seem like a minor point in the story, but notice that the bush God elects to set ablaze is not directly in front of Moses.  It is within sight, sure; but Moses still has to go out of his way to inspect it.

But then again, maybe that’s the point.  Maybe God is constantly trying to get our attention, but not with something that’s right in front of us.  It’s off to one side, so that we have to stop what we’re doing and go take a closer look.  Maybe if we turned aside more often, we would hear God calling to us more often.

If you’re like me, part of the problem is our hectic schedules.  We’re always in a rush to get here or there, in order to do this or that, and so, instead of stopping to investigate the burning bush, we just keep on keeping on.  “No time to spare,” we tell ourselves, “I’ll check it out later.”  But of course, we rarely get around to it.

As a pastor, a lot of people ask me about their “calling”—What is it that God wants them to do, and why isn’t God more explicit or direct about it?  After all, if God wishes for us to explore something, why not put it right in front of our face, so we will have no choice but to examine it more closely?  But don’t you see—God always wants us to have that choice!  We can listen for God’s call, or we can choose to plug our ears.  We can look for God’s guidance, or we can choose to close our eyes.  We can turn aside to investigate that burning bush, or we can choose to keep on keeping on.

One word of caution, though—If, like Moses, you choose to turn aside and take a closer look, you may just find God setting you on fire too!