“When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush,”  Exodus 3:4

Have you made a habit of recognizing the moments when God is trying to get your attention?  It happens more frequently than you expect, in fact, given God’s commitment to conform you to the image of Christ, I’d be willing to bet you it happens multiple times a day.  The problem is we don’t make a habit of “turing aside to see” what it is that God is doing in our lives.  The story of Moses illustrates that God speaks when He sees that we are looking to Him.

It’s likely an understatement to say Moses was not expecting this particluar encounter with God.  This isn’t Moses “the great deliverer of God’s people.”  This is Moses the guy with a past, running from the law, guilty of murder, rejected by his people, living among pagans, doing a job that’s nothing to write home about.  He has some raw talent.  He has shown the desire to deliver the oppressed and protect the weak (See Exodus 2:12 &18)  Nevertheless, at 80 years of age, he’s probably feeling like his life has not amounted to much.

This story, however, is less about moses and more about the power of encountering God.  The truth is, for 80 years God has been crafting Moses for a very specific purpose.  It’s likely Moses didn’t recognize this.  In fact, as a shepherd in a foreign land running from his past, he probably had more thoughts like, “What’s the meaning of my life” or “How did I end up here” or maybe “what ever happened to the God I grew up hearing about?”  Can you relate to this?  When we don’t expect to encounter God we tend to get discouraged fast.  We lose our ability to see life from God’s perspective.   Eventually we can find ourselves questioning everything we once believed.  Take heart!  If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ you need to know God has been working, is working, and will continue to work in your life.  You also need to make a note, hearing God clearly requires a willingness to encounter Him.

I’m not saying you are going to have a burning bush experience every day.  There are some who think that’s what the Christian life is like.  They often learn the hard way that the heart is deceitful and the emotional ups and downs in life, when mistaken for the leading of the Holy Spirit, can lead to heartache.

I am saying, in light of God’s commitment to your sanctification you can be certain that God is at work, He is shaping you, and you will likely have some moments when He reveals specific assignments He has fashioned you for.  We have to recognize that we are all in process and there will be many moments when we encounter God along the way.  These are moments when God is working in your life to shape you.  Moments when He is asking you to give things up.  Moments when he is expecting you to exercise more faith.  The key to all of this is your willingness to look to him.  We have to recognize when and how he speaks to us.  Let me give you a few ways this happens every day.

First, every Christians needs to understand this truth.  God will never speak a louder word than the testimony of His son Jesus Christ.  He is screaming “I LOVE YOU!  I AM COMMITTED TO YOU! and I WILL NEVER FORSAKE YOU!”  If you’re not waking up every morning to hear these words, you are going to struggle to live the abundant life He’s called you to.  Turn to him, and listen to Him.  In those moments where you feel condemned, when you wonder if he’s through with you, if you think He can’t use you or has cast you aside, you have to remember… God will never forsake the covenant He made with you in Jesus Christ.  It’s His loudest word.

Second, there are things He’s trying to get into you.  His passion is to conform you to the image of Christ.  The more you look like Jesus the more useful you will be to Him.  I’m not saying you won’t be you.  I’m saying you will be you at your best.  You will be, who you are, infused by the power, presence and principle of Jesus Christ.  It means you will be more gracious, more loving, more giving, more serving, more joyful, more sacrificing, more eternally minded, more glorifying to God, more powerful, more of everything you can’t be apart from Christ pouring his Spirit in to you.  Encounter God by recognizing the moments He is putting more of His son into you.

Third, there are things He’s trying to draw out of you.  I’m not talking about sinful things.  I’m talking about ways He has created you and gifted you.  There are things about you that have a purpose, but they have to be surrendered to Him.  Moses was wired to fight for the oppressed, unfortunately, left to his own devices it drove him to murder.  That’s not God honoring no matter how you cut it.  However, the raw material is something God wants to refine, and shape, and ultimately use once it’s empowered through complete surrender to God’s purposes.  Do you recognize how God has wired you?  Do you realize that He is in process and teaching you to give yourself fully to Him?  Ask him to show you how these things can be leveraged for His glory?  This is what it means to encounter God.

Opportunities to encounter God happen on a regular basis.  The problem is we stop looking for them, and when we can’t ignore them we pray they might go away.  What is happening in your life that is, uncomfortable, frustrating, hard to understand, or maybe just annoying.  Start viewing it as an opportunity to encounter God.  Recognize that He loves you, He’s trying to get more of Jesus in you, and He is drawing things out of you so you will be useful for His purposes.