Good morning…
God can break into our daily lives in very funky ways. I have a hilariously weird story for you.
Last week, my senior in high school was playing her important lacrosse game at a faraway school. Fortunately, I thought the game started at 5:00 pm instead of 5:30 pm so I had plenty of time to settle into the stadium when I arrived at the field at 4:55 pm. Unfortunately, I did not know the school charged admission to a regular season game and I had no cash in my wallet, surprise, surprise. The ladies at the ticket table were friendly and gracious, responding “We trust you,” when I promised, “I will pay you the $5.00 entrance fee when my friends get here and someone can loan me the cash.”
They kindly pointed out the location of the bathrooms, which were on the way to Timbuktu. Luckily, with the incorrect start time in my mind, I relaxed into the gift of unexpected free time. I moseyed over to relieve myself and I leisurely moseyed back toward the stands. As I was walking back on the paved path, I saw to my right something in the grass. I walked over to look and there was a folded up $5.00 bill. I thought, “There is no better place for that $5.00 bill than to be tucked in the athletic fund for this public school.”
So, I picked up the $5.00, walked back over to the ticket table, and, sharing the story, I summed up for the strangers, “I don’t think God wanted you to wait to get your $5.00 fee.” My uncanny experience reminds me of Moses. We pick his story up in Exodus 3:1-8a (MSG).
Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the west end of the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb. The angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush. He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn’t burn up.
Moses said, “What’s going on here? I can’t believe this! Amazing! Why doesn’t the bush burn up?”
God saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
He said, “Yes? I’m right here!”
God said, “Don’t come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You’re standing on holy ground.”
Then he said, “I am the God of your father: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.”
Moses hid his face, afraid to look at God. God said, “I’ve taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people…I’ve heard their cries for deliverance…I know all about their pain. And now I have come down to help them…”
Some afflictions seem brief and insignificant, like needing to wait on a friend to pay a $5.00 entrance fee. Some afflictions are long and arduous, forcing us to cry out to God for deliverance from our pain. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28, NIV).
…Sue…
