When He Appears in the Flames

“And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.” Exodus 3:2 (ESV)

The earth rolls by as I drive home, heart heavy with fear and uncertainty. I’ve lived in a realm of listlessness for months, fighting through fatigue and anxiety that doesn’t fully go away. Worn weary, I wonder where I even am on God’s radar. Does He see my pain?

Worries about health keep cycling in my mind. I am looking for any sign  that God sees me. Didn’t God give Moses a burning bush?

Then my “burning bush” appears.

I’m driving down a familiar road when my eyes flash up to a side street: Burning Bush Lane. In the rocky clefts and broken landscape of my heart, this sign encourages me that I am seen.

God is here, even in the flames of my pain. I recall what God told Moses in Exodus 3:5: “The place on which you are standing is holy ground” (ESV). Perhaps my hurts and worries are held on holy ground as well.

In Exodus 3, God appeared in the wilderness where Moses thought all was lost. God watched for Moses to come near, then spoke from the flames, affirming both His character and Moses’ identity: “I am the God of your father …” (Exodus 3:6, ESV, emphases added). He used the flickering flames of singeing fire to speak and soothe.

“And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed” (Exodus 3:2).

God reaches us in surprising ways even as we stumble through our turmoil and pain.

Read the rest over at Proverbs 31 to see how God moves in the middle of our turmoil.