The God StorySample

Take Off Your Shoes

Father God, what I know of You will only ever be a fraction of who You are. Jesus, open my mind to see You and understand the Scriptures. Spirit, move my heart from familiar to fascinated until it is set ablaze with Your unfailing love.

Read: Psalm 32:7

Today I am reflecting on God’s incredible faithfulness. Four hundred years after God spoke to Abraham, his descendants found themselves in slavery. The seed of promise passed down through the generations had been buried in the dark womb of the Egyptian empire, enslaved under the tyrannical rule of a new Pharaoh. Moses, one of these descendants, had been raised in the royal court of Egypt but, after murdering an Egyptian, had had to flee to the desert...

Read: Exodus 3:1-8

Moses, the former prince of Egypt, is filled with shame and regret. God, however, has not finished with Moses and orchestrates a fresh encounter. Through this bush, crackling with fire yet not consumed, God is communicating something deep to Moses. Maybe God is saying, ‘Moses, my love for you is like this fire. I want to burn up every false and unformed part of you so that you might become who you were truly created to be.’

Holy Spirit, fire of God, burn in me again today. I surrender every disappointment, regret, and feeling of inadequacy to You. As I hear You say my name I simply reply, ‘Here I am’.

Pause and pray

It’s estimated that between 40 and 50 million people around the world today are living in some form of slavery, the world’s fastest-growing crime.

God of the oppressed and downtrodden, today I speak freedom over those enslaved in brothels, car washes, nail bars, and restaurants across my nation. And I pray for agencies and activists fighting on their behalf.

Pause and pray

God had not finished with Moses. But God had also not finished with the Hebrew people. God had seen their misery. God had heard their crying. God had been moved by their suffering. And God was coming down to deliver them. Here, at the burning bush, God was making clear His identification with the least. These Hebrew slaves He emphatically declares are ‘My people’.

Today, Lord, I ask You to help me understand the depths of Your compassion for the oppressed. Stir my heart to participate in their liberation and give me the courage to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Amen.