     When we left Moses last week he was still in the desert. Forty years earlier he'd lost his place of honour, wealth and privilege after attempting to intervene when an Egyptian knocked down an Hebrew man. The next day his "saviour" complex showed up again but this time it was two Hebrew men who were fighting and, once more, Moses stepped in. Neither of his heroic and well meaning interventions saved him from the scorn and anger of both nationalities.
         News spread quickly to the palace and Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, ordered his execution. Moses lost no time in getting out of town and the next time we see him, he's sitting beside a well in the land of Midian.
         Moses married a local girl and the couple had a child. Meanwhile back in Egypt, Pharaoh made sure the Hebrews were well subdued and burdened with work. Long story short: Pharaoh died and the enslaved children of Israel groaned under the load of their captivity.
         Though this is not recorded in Scripture, I wonder if Moses wrestled with some of the same questions that I (and you?) have entertained: Does God have anything more for me than this? What about my dreams of serving Him? Does He remember where and who I am?
         But it was there, crossing the burning sand, that grace met Moses. A burning bush ignited through spontaneous combustion was nothing new…but this was different… it  burned but wasn't consumed. Moses stopped. God spoke. And from that  encounter, hope was renewed.
         The account of this story in the book of Acts puts it this way: "This Moses, whom they rejected…is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush."
         Never give up - grace is amazing!
