Ever have those moments when God speaks to you at the right time? Those moments when you are reminded of what is most important? If you are like me, those moments are fairly uncommon. Sure I can think my way into understanding God's desire through interpreting scripture, using reason, tradition, and my own experience (Wesleyan Quadrilateral for us Methodists), but those moments that seem to just speak directly into our souls seem to come out of no where. Like Moses' burning bush, (exodus 3) sometimes God seems to appear from nowhere and change the course of our lives.

If we continue the story, however, Moses does something that I am not sure I would do, he simply walks up to this burning bush. He doesn't run in the other direction, he simply gets in front of it, takes off his sandals, and listens. He places himself in the best possible position to hear from God. I don't think you can manipulate God or force movements of the Holy Spirit, but I do believe, like Moses, that we each have the capacity, to place ourselves in position to be open to receive a word from God. 

I think of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1. She is the mother of Samuel, but before Samuel ever entered the scene, she was the barren wife of a man named Elkanah. She was so desperate to have a son, an heir to her beloved husband, and it pained her that she couldn't. Every year on the pilgrimage to Shiloh to worship the Lord, she would stop and spend some time in prayer. Year after year, while other wives would be thankful for their kids, Hannah would lament her barrenness. She would plead with God to provide a son. In the glimpse we have in 1 Samuel 1, she stops to pray with a bit more gusto, to the point where the priest Eli thought she was drunk (1 Samuel 1:14). 

Like Moses, however, she positioned herself to hear from God. In her case, it was in front of the empathetic priest Eli who would later comfort her by saying, "Go in peace, may the God of Israel grant your request." (1 Samuel 1:17). Sure enough, upon returning home, she would become pregnant with Samuel. She would later, after he was weaned, return him to Eli and allow him to be raised there as a lifelong servant of God. Samuel would anoint Saul as the first king of Israel and later the great king David.

Here is my point, what would it look like for you to position yourself to receive a word of God for you? How might you change your attitude from pessimism to optimism, anticipating God to move and to act in your life? How will you know if you see your burning bush, or a place to be still and to pray as Hannah did?

I will end with this story. Growing up there was a woman who we would call "Granny" even though she was not our grandma. When my parents went to work she would watch over me and my siblings, take care of us, and feed us. We loved her and she loved us. I remember quite vividly that in her garden in front of her home were these seemingly huge "elephant ear" plants. I didn't have any of those near my house and her garden was the only place I ever saw such awesome plants. Every time I would enter her house, those plants were there to greet me, to welcome me. They remind me of the warmth of her house (and the smell of her cinnamon rolls-another story for another day).

Earlier this year, a woman in my congregation (Maryann Williams) gifted me a bulb of this plant. So, I carefully planted it, put it in a place where it would receive a lot of light, watered it, and hoped. To be honest, it did nothing for a while. It just sat there staring at me, mocking me. Then I went to Annual Conference (an annual gathering of clergy and lay United Methodists) from the state of Missouri. When I came back, it greeted me with this:


That hearty green leaf brought a great deal of joy to me. It just popped up, unexpectedly. It may sound really corny and cheesy to you, but for me it was God's own way of saying to me, "All will be well". It was a reminder that you can fall in love with God, not to change the world. Reshaping the world is the by-product of falling in love with God, not the primary aim.
This was my burning bush. It re-ignited my passion for ministry, for the Kingdom of God. You cannot manipulate God, but you can be ready to receive God. So how are you positioning yourself? How are you seeking that burning bush or utilizing the space in your life for prayer and devotion? In what aspects of your life might you anticipate God to work?