I AM WHO I AM

Have you ever been around a farm where they raise animals, like sheep? I’ve been told that they are not the most intelligent animals in the barn.  It’s been said that sheep will follow one another literally anywhere even over a steep cliff to their death. So it follows that sheep need a shepherd; someone to watch over them, keep them and care for them. We know that God is going to raise Moses up to be a great shepherd-leader over the nation of Israel. As part of his training God arranges for Moses to care for his father-in-law’s sheep in the wilderness of Midian for approximately forty years.  Moses is turning eighty as God commissions him to speak to the Pharaoh of Egypt and tell him to let God’s people go. But as Moses  later finds out this won’t be accomplished in his strength or power.

There are many scenes in the bible that I would have loved to have witnessed firsthand. If only I could step into a time machine and travel back in time to witness these special events firsthand. The burning bush scene is one of those scenes where I would have liked to have watched as Moses tells God that He made a mistake in choosing him. As chapter three of Exodus starts out we read in verse 11 “But Moses said to God ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?’“. Now, just think about this picture for a moment, Moses is standing in front of a burning bush that is not being consumed, listening to  God who is speaking from inside the bush. At this moment Moses’ fear of failure is greater than his faith as God commissions him to go in the power of His Spirit.

The next question Moses delivers to the mysterious voice coming from the burning bush is really a great question; a question that man has continually sought after, “God who are You and where do You reside?”.  God’s response is quick and to the point in Exodus 3:14 “And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’” Here God is stating the fact as plainly as He can “I AM all that you will ever need!”. God is omnipresent which means  everywhere at once. He is the same yesterday, today and forever; the Eternal One. Think about that response, how much clearer or concise could our Creator have stated the fact that He literally holds all things together. Later the Jewish faith would leave vowels out of His name when writing or speaking it. They did not want to take a chance on mispronouncing or defiling it falling into God’s judgment.  Today we translate it as JEHOVAH or YAHWEH but for the Jew the name of God was too sacred to pronounce or write. Today, we can now come boldly into the throne room of God, thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

We worship an almighty, all-knowing and gracious God who fills the universe in which we exist and beyond. In His power and Spirit there is literally nothing we can’t achieve or mountain we can’t move. Paul put it this way in his second letter to the Corinthians verse 10 “ Therefore I take pleasure in  infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” God is the omnipotent and ever present strength in the life of the child of God. 

So now at the age of forty God moves Moses to a place in the wilderness where he can learn that it’s not in our strength where God moves but in our weakness. We observe this reoccurring theme throughout the bible in the lives of men like David and Elijah. Where a small young boy falls a nine foot tall seasoned soldier but was forced to hide in caves to avoid being killed by king Saul. God supernaturally preserved David while he was being hunted. Elijah spoke as a prophet of God that no rain would fall, and then had to endure the hardship of the desert, drought and famine before God allowed him to bring down fire from heaven. Its only when we humble ourselves that God can then use us by displaying the mighty works of His Spirit.

So as we travel back to the year 2012 and step out of our time machine, we find God asking all of us the very same question “Who will humble themselves and go for Me?   Remember it is the power of God working through us that will accomplish great things; Not by strength, not by power but by my Spirit says the Lord.