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Beyond The Wilderness

    One of the truly great Biblical stories is the one about Moses’ encounter with God through the burning bush.  As is often the case, we sometimes overlook the truths leading up to these wonderful stories.  In Exodus 3:1 we are told “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 .” 

    It was there at Horeb, the mountain of God that Moses heard his calling…a calling to bring his people out of bondage.  How easy it is to kind of skip over the part about Moses leading his flock beyond the wilderness, and yet it is in this verse we just might find a truth that changes our life.  The first thing I think of is if you are tending sheep in the great outdoors, where in the world is “beyond the wilderness.”  I mean I thought sheep were always out in the wilderness.  And yet here we see that there was certainly a place “beyond the wilderness”, and that is where God was…waiting for Moses.

    We have our wildernesses, too, though they be far different than the ones of Moses.  Jesus said we must live in the world…a world full of busyness, complications, technology, conveniences, and responsibilities.  In the midst of this wilderness, it is certainly difficult to hear the voice of God. And yet if we only even hear His voice faintly, we must move towards the sound.  It may lead up on a journey we are not prepared for, but the struggle will certainly be worth it. 

    Somehow, some way, we must go beyond the wilderness, beyond the ways and challenges of this world.  It is there we may just find God waiting for us…waiting to tell us what He wants us to do.  While Moses’ journey there was certainly a physical one, ours is more spiritual with the landscape being the depths of our hearts.  The wilderness of this world pulls us towards scoreboards, joy security and its own definition of success.  Within our hearts there is a journey and only we can take that journey.  With the presence of Christ in our lives, we can go beyond the wilderness to the mountain of God .  And finding God beyond the wilderness of this world…well, that may just make all the difference in our lives.  It changed Moses’ life and it will change ours…now and for eternity. 

    May we pray for each other to make that journey…beyond the wilderness…and into the will of God.

In Christ,
Billy

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