slow down

The story of the burning bush in Exodus is customarily offered as a 'miracle' that God performed to get Moses' attention. This seemed odd to me, given the God who split the sea and made the sun stand still would resort to something so trivial and undramatic as to make a bush burn without being consumed to attract Moses' attention.

It's a cheap trick isn't it?

Look at the process of combustion. Think of how long it would take to watch a burning bush before you realized it wasn't being consumed? Even dry wood could take up to several minutes. Moses would have had to stare at the burning bush for several minutes before even realizing it was a miracle.

Jewish scholars go crazy over this passage in certain commentaries. The burning bush was not a miracle. It was a test. God wanted to find out whether or not Moses could pay attention to something for more than a few minutes. When Moses did, God spoke.

The trick is to pay attention to what is going on around you long enough to behold the miracle without falling asleep. There is truly another world, right here within this one.

It is taking me daily discipline to slow down and pay attention long enough to see what the Lord is doing right before my eyes. I have been on the run for the past year, so this season of slowing down is a gift.

Think about it.