God's Presence

In this episode, I reflect on the profound narrative of the Exodus, focusing on Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush. This pivotal moment reveals God’s intimate awareness of human suffering and His desire to liberate us from affliction and anxiety. By recognising God’s ongoing work in our lives, we are invited into a transformative relationship with Him. I also draw parallels to the parable of the fig tree, highlighting God’s patience and mercy. Through surrendering our burdens to God and embracing His presence, we can experience renewal and fruitfulness. Join me in exploring how God’s grace leads us to freedom and peace.

00:00:00 When you read through the scriptures and you come across the different parts, the different kind of elements, you might think that the story of creation, this, that moment when God brought out of the chaos, this new life, this amazing goodness. But in fact, the thing that is much more significant is the exodus, the story that we begin to hear tonight, what that moment when the Lord brought the people out of the slavery of Egypt, when Moses, minding his own business, probably in a place that he’d been many times before. But he was he was going about his business, minding the flock. He saw a bush burning. I mean, that’s kind of unusual, but he waited long enough to notice that the bush, though burning, was not being consumed, it was not being devoured by the flames. That was unusual, that a man stops to take notice long enough to observe that something isn’t happening. And that’s the first sign, the first miracle that happens. But as he begins to draw closer, that’s when he hears the voice of the Lord addressing him, calling to him, reminding him that he is indeed the God of his fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

00:01:45 And so Moses covers his face, because he knows that in this place he is in the very presence of the whole Holy One. And the Lord then tells him something. He tells Moses, I have heard my people’s cry. I have seen their affliction. Our God is not a God who is distant, who is separate, who isn’t aware of what we are going through. Our God is aware of all of the different situations and circumstances, all of the things that afflict us. It’s part of God’s psyche, part of his very makeup that he sees, he hears. And in this instance, he also acts. He calls Moses into this space in order to invite him into this freedom, into this new life, into this deeper possibility. And we’re invited to be part of this journey as well. Note that when the Lord reveals himself, when he reveals his very identity to Moses, he doesn’t give a long theological explanation. He simply offers that sense of the relationship, the place from which his people have come, and inviting Moses to be part of that bigger story, the story that is being unfolding now for generation upon generation, and inviting Moses now into this deep and counter into this space where he can be himself.

00:03:25 But of course, Moses isn’t content. He’s a bit overwhelmed. We know that. He’s a bit of a slimy kind of character. He tries to get out of things as much as he possibly can. And so when the Lord tells him that you will be the one to go and to set my people free, Moses is a very overwhelmed by that. He knows he’s inadequacies. He knows that he isn’t capable of doing all of these things by himself. And so he says to the Lord, well, if someone asks, who is this God who is telling you to do these great things, what shall I say? What is your name? And the Lord at this point gives a declaration that none of us are able to repeat. He says in Hebrew, Aya, Asher, Aya, I am who I am. Of course it’s in the infinitive. It’s in the very sense of of what it is to be. We we can’t capture that. We can’t really express that. And so when the Lord then reveals what his name will be, it’s then that the Lord gives to Moses the sacred name by which he shall be called in perpetuity, which is the full Hebrew letters of Yod.

00:04:47 Hey, Way, Hey. It’s interesting that all of those sounds. All of the sounds, Aya Asher, Aye; Yod. Hey, Way, Hey [YaWHeW], they’re all sounds of breathing, the sounds of aspiration, the sounds that we make when we’re trying to be present to the spirit, present to the God who reveals himself in the very power of what is around us. But so often we need to hear the Exodus story, because we’re in our own places of affliction. When we’re feeling that experience of being overwhelmed by all of the different things that we see around us, all of the events, all of the the things that unfold around us, all of the anxieties that we’re aware of so we can be invited into this space of peace, this space of simply resting in the presence of God. I mean, the best thing that we can do to overcome the anxiety that we feel is to just become conscious first of our breathing, to let the Lord in His Spirit fill us, to let the Lord fill us with the sound of his voice, the sound of his name aya, Asha.

00:06:10 Aya. yod. Hey, Vay. Hey. To take the name of God upon our lips. To let the Lord be so present to us that we can befriend our anxiety. We can befriend all of the things that are disturbing us. We can befriend all of those different situations that overwhelm us at times, all the different ways that we experience slavery and dysfunction and sinfulness and addiction in our own lives. That we can allow the Lord to be the master of all those things, that he can see, those areas he can hear the sound of our cry, he can hear the sound of our distress. And he will speak that word of freedom into our lives and bring us into that space where we can be free from all of those different experiences, to center ourselves in the truth that the God of the Exodus continues to set us free. The God of the Exodus continues to reach into all places where we find that slavery, all those places where we realize that there isn’t any fruitfulness in our lives. The parable that Jesus tells today about this fig tree.

00:07:29 More than likely, he’s referring to a tree that has already had some years to grow and to mature. He’s not looking at the first few years when a tree isn’t expected to to be able to produce any fruit. So after 3 or 4 years of coming and watering it, then you would begin to look for fruit. But it’s been another three years now, waiting for all of this, waiting for these things to unfold. And still there is no fruitfulness. And so the master says, well, you might as well rip it up. If after 6 or 7 years there is no fruit now. It’s not likely that there’s going to be any fruit to come. Yet the servant speaks the words of mercy. The servant speaks to us of the God who is always inviting us into that same space. What about we just wait a little bit longer? One more year? Let’s bring some manure. Bring all of the garbage. Bring all of the crap that we have around us and place it on that plant.

00:08:31 Water it, nurture it. Tender. And maybe in one more year there will be this fruitfulness. Maybe one more year we will be able to respond to his grace. Maybe in one more year we’ll be able to allow the God of life and love to breathe his life into us. And we might release our anxiety, release our stress, let go of all of the things that we carry, that we we know are not from God. Surrender them and let God speak his life and his love into them. Yod. Hey, Vah, Hey! The God of life. The God who is found. Not in the past. Not in the regrets. Not in the future. Not in the worries and concerns about what tomorrow might bring. But the God who is. I am the God who was found only in this present moment. The God that we encounter here in this place. When we respond to God’s grace and kindness in the words that Moses said, you know, here I am, let’s allow the Lord to meet us today, to be present to us, to encounter us, to love us, to hold us so that we can be present to the God who is here with us, the God who wants to be part of our lives, the God who wants to lead us out of slavery into freedom.

00:09:57 The God who will give us one more year to allow that fruitfulness to come forth in our life. But God is always wanting us to find that freedom and that life that can only come when we surrender ourselves to God and allow God to call us into the promised land of life and love.