— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
In her recent sermon, Christine mentioned the burning bush catching Moses´ attention and drawing him near. This caught my attention to read again the Bible passage in Exodus 3.
It is truly a miraculous sign, energy production always consumes, fires leave ashes, yet the bush does not seem to turn into a greyish black pile of ex-hausted remainder of life’s energy.
Sitting in the mountains for recuperation, before returning to another round of work in the clinic in a week’s time, I can feel the beauty of this image of meeting the “Great I Am” at His mountain at the far side of the wilderness. In the built-up noisy cities of our daily lives it is hard to hear the whisper of God’s voice, to see His presence, when everyone is pushing and I try to keep going with the stream of my overwhelming and steadily refilling to-do-lists; either relying on my own strength on so called good days believing in the “Yes I can” or falling into the paralyzing darkness of being overwhelmed on the less good days. Both ends have their challenge and chance to meet God, depending on our openness to approach the “burning bush”. Not allowing self-confidence nor its lack to keep us away from God’s invitation to meet Him here in the solitude of our wilderness. God seeks personal meetings, rarely large group encounters, it is when He holds my hand and talks to me when I need it most, words of encouragement, moments of rest, love which never ceases and is always ready to forgive, to be patient. God sees me coming and then it says that he called Moses by name. I am not a stranger to God; He sees and knows me. How often do I think that He is on mute or does not even see the hurts and wounds of my life, because I don’t hear him, don’t see him, but He does see me and hears my prayers and calls: Come. How often am I willing to step out of my routine to reply: Here I am.
Lord, help me to Hear your voice and be ready to take my time with you, not only when I can squeeze you into my busy schedule but when you are close and are calling. Help me to experience the lasting value of your life-giving water, of your non-consuming fire.
To come into God’s presence is a holy moment, a moment when we take off our shoes out of reverence to Him, honoring His holiness, because only then we will be able to feel His power and majesty. God, forgive my moments of prayer while brushing teeth, because it would save me time on my way to bed. Nothing against such prayers when they are urgent and coming from deep within, but help me to make them not an excuse to check off my daily prayer time with you. I don’t remember the last time I went to my boss with my tooth brush in my mouth.
This encounter was not restricted to Moses’ pleasure and education, but it was the empowering experience to send Him out to lead and save His people. It was only through this mandate, that Moses was able to lead in the upcoming 40 years. It was this encounter which still shone from his face, it is this encounter which I admire in other people who are willingly serving our God in a sacrificial way and yet are not consumed by the flames of daily travail because it is God reenergizing them during their walk.
God, help me to be attentive to Your voice in my daily walk and come into Your presence and hear Your words:
“Be still and know that I am God”
(Psalms 46:10)
And let us respond:
This is holy, this is holy ground, You are holy, God. I wait upon You now. Let Your presence fill me now, as I wait upon You now.
(Verse from Hillsong United “Holy ground”)
Amen
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
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