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<\/a>Have you ever had a moment when something ordinary became extraordinary? For me, that often happens at the beach\u2014watching the waves roll in, feeling the rhythm of the tide, and letting the ocean\u2019s vastness quiet my soul. There\u2019s something about that stillness that puts me at peace, reminding me of my pursuit to lead a quiet life. It seems often that when you stare at something bigger than you, it somehow changes your perspective, and helps you put everything else into perspective \u2013 and it helps you to accept life as it is. You become more okay with obscurity. It\u2019s in those moments of simplicity that the ordinary becomes infused with awe, mystery, and divine purpose. For this reason, Ocean City (Maryland)<\/a> has become sacred space for me \u2013 a space for not only annual vacation trips but also it feels like a sacred space for spiritual retreats, prayer, and discernment. Maybe you\u2019ve felt these moments too\u2014a quiet walk where God\u2019s presence feels near, or an unexpected conversation that changes everything.<\/p>\n Moses\u2019 story in Exodus 3<\/a> reminds us that God can transform the most ordinary \u2014 even mundane and overlooked places of obscurity \u2014 into something sacred. Moses\u2019 journey was one of many transitions. In many ways, Moses is in a wilderness moment that is physical, spiritual, and emotional. Born into slavery, he was raised away from his people in Pharaoh\u2019s household, and then exiled into the wilderness. Moses moved from obscurity to privilege and back again to obscurity. It was in the moments Moses was the least secure that God was the most near. It was in the wilderness, with nothing to his name, tending his father-in-law\u2019s sheep in a desolate land, that God met him in an extraordinary way, in an ordinary place. As we see in the story, Moses carries deep shame in the wilderness (taking matters into his own hand and killing someone), insecurities, and perhaps even a sense of an orphan spirit\u2014feeling unrooted and uncertain of his place, people, and gifting. After being raised in Pharaoh\u2019s palace yet born as a Hebrew, he struggled with his identity. Moses past mistakes, including killing an Egyptian in a misguided attempt to defend his ethnic people, led to his exile in the wilderness. This fractured past created a tension within him, making it difficult to embrace the calling God placed before him. Moses has to wrestle with God in his physical space, his spiritual life, and in his emotions. Starting in the end of Chapter 3, and going for a few chapters, the doubting and insecurity of Moses plays out before God in the wilderness.<\/p>\n Horeb<\/a> (meaning dry place or desolate), also known later as Sinai, wasn\u2019t initially a holy place. It was just another mountain in a desolate landscape. The herds that Moses is watching are like divine guides who take him into this space in search of grass. There is nothing special about this landscape. It is a wilderness place where Moses is working through the mundane and the thoughts in his mind as he works. However, God\u2019s presence meets him in the wasteland of obscurity, and transformed the dry and desolate place into Mt. Sinai. Mt. Sinai becomes the place where God meets Moses, gives Moses the ten commandments and gathers the people of God to worship \u2013 and carries much prophetic imagery. The obscure Mt. Horeb became sacred territory because of this divine encounter. However, the burning bush wasn\u2019t special because of its location, the plantarum species, or its appearance\u2014it was special because God chose to be there. The same is true with Mount Sinai<\/a>. God engaging Moses and the people of God in that space is what redefined their lives and the landscape. The same is true in our lives. Some seasons God is on the mountain, sometimes in the bush, sometimes a still small whisper in the wind. God will use many ordinary things, in the obscure moments, to engage creation. Moses had an appointed time to encounter God, and in that wilderness season God was developing Moses\u2019 character and calling, and probably deconstructing some things too. When God meets Moses in that place, the landscape is transformed. This story reminds us about how God often meets us in the quiet, forgotten places and calls us into something more. Even more, it is in those quiet, forgotten places and seasons, that God utilizes to shift and shape our character and calling.<\/p>\n God often shapes our character and calling in the quiet, hidden seasons of life\u2014those times when we feel unseen, uncertain, or even stuck. Just as Moses spent years in the wilderness before stepping into his purpose, we, too, go through refining periods where God works beneath the surface, preparing us for what\u2019s ahead. These are There are places in our history we have to wrestle with God and the problem of pain. Even more we often have to wrestle with God in our physical, spiritual, and emotional state. The wilderness is a space to wrestle with ourselves. Rabbi Leibel Gniwisch<\/a> mentions that it is in the wilderness that Moses learned \u201cGod wouldn\u2019t take no for an answer.\u201d In those wilderness moments of Exodus 3-4, we see Moses being chosen by God. However, the wilderness is important, because \u201cGod does not give anyone a large task before testing their ability with a small one.\u201d The small tasks prepare our character and calling for the big tasks. And the wilderness was a task. It is in the wilderness that a shepherd with an identity crisis is reconnected to his God, people, and he becomes a shepherd for God\u2019s people. In these seasons, God molds our hearts, teaches us humility, and helps us confront our fears and past mistakes. We see God uses our time in these places to liberate others. First, it is in the stillness that we learn to trust God, letting go of our own striving and embracing God\u2019s timing. These moments of waiting are not wasted; they are where God shapes us into the people God has called us to be.<\/p>\n Moses\u2019 encounter with the burning bush reminds us that God is not confined to grand temples or dramatic displays. God speaks in the ordinary, the overlooked, and the obscure moments. I believe we will stay in our wilderness places until God\u2019s timing is right, but also until our character and calling are fully shaped. The longer we take to accept what God is doing, the longer we may wrestle with God and the calling of God in the wilderness. It may take some one year, and others forty. As Rabbi Leibel Gniwisch<\/a> shares, \u201cThe burning bush teaches us not to be let down by our current state of not-knowing. There is more beauty in the journey of the newly initiated than in the perfection of the righteous.\u201d Do not despise the wilderness moments. Wrestle with your identity before God. Embrace the way God is transforming your character and character. Even more, don\u2019t be burned out by the not-knowing. However, the story of Moses tells us that when God finally meets us, God will invite us close \u2013 but not too close. The ground and season becomes holy. In God\u2019s presence we will be driven to greater humility because of God\u2019s holiness, but we will also need to go with trepidation, the fear of the Lord, and with our sandals off as slaves in awe-striking worship.<\/p>\n In the story of Moses, God does not call Moses based on his own abilities, strength, or qualifications. Instead, God makes it clear that Moses is not acting on his own power but it\u2019s qualified because the presence of God will be with him. When Moses expresses doubt about his ability to lead, God doesn\u2019t respond by boosting his self-confidence or listing his strengths. Instead, God simply says, \u201cI will be with you\u201d<\/em> (Exodus 3:12<\/a>). It is God\u2019s presence that qualifies Moses, not his past, his skills, or his confidence. The only four things Moses had to do was (1) stay alert in the wilderness, (2) step closer when God invited him, (3) in worship respond with \u2018Here I Am,\u2019 and (4) obediently walk out the tasks that God entrusted to him. This truth is just as relevant for us today. We are not called to rely on our own power, but to trust in the One who goes before us and calls to us. When we step into what God is calling us to do, we do so with the assurance that He is with us, equipping and empowering us every step of the way. In the meantime, we have to accept the wilderness but stay alert.<\/p>\n I\u2019m always interested in a good conversation or a cup of coffee. Let\u2019s connect! I love hearing others\u2019 stories and sharing my own while finding ways to support others on their journey. Feel free to reach out to me via\u00a0email<\/a> \u2014I\u2019d love to hear from you. You can also connect with me through Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, Bluesky<\/a>, X<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a>, Threads<\/a>, and\/or YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n The NET Bible (New English Translation) is a translation of the Bible with 60,932 translators\u2019 notes! It was completed by more than 25 scholars \u2013 experts in the original biblical languages \u2013 who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. I invite you to\u00a0learn more<\/a>\u00a0about it, discover their\u00a0resources<\/a>, read it\u00a0online<\/a>,\u00a0download<\/a>\u00a0it for free,\u00a0purchase<\/a>\u00a0it, and use their\u00a0online bible study software<\/a>\u00a0(don\u2019t forget their iPhone\u00a0app<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you ever had a moment when something ordinary became extraordinary? For me, that often happens at the beach\u2014watching the waves roll in, feeling the rhythm of the tide, and letting the ocean\u2019s vastness quiet my soul. There\u2019s something about that stillness that puts me at peace, reminding me of my pursuit to lead a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5369,"featured_media":1640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[98,359],"class_list":["post-1631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-evangelical","tag-obscurity"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Obscurity and Wilderness of Our Lives Is Often Physical, Spiritual, and Emotional.<\/h2>\n
It Is God Not the Location That Makes the Space Special<\/h2>\n
The Wilderness Shapes Our Character and Calling<\/h2>\n
Do Not Despise the Wilderness Moments of Wrestling With Identity<\/h2>\n
God Promises To Be Closer<\/h2>\n
Closing Remarks<\/h2>\n