“But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you (Exodus 3: 13-14).'”
This has always been an entertaining passage of Scripture for me. Moses tried to get out of becoming Israel’s chief escape artist and leader of the Jewish rebellion against Pharaoh and the world’s greatest military, but God won’t take no for an answer. Then, Moses tried to get a little help from God by asking God what inspiring thing he should say to rally the Israelites to pack up and outrun Pharaoh’s sword swinging charioteers and spear chucking horsemen. He asks for God to share God’s most magnificent, most powerful name. Maybe Moses was imagining saying, “Have no fear! Rise up! Thunder God has come to blast Pharaoh’s armies and free us!” Maybe “The Almighty has come to save us!” or something magnificent like that. Instead, God said, “Tell them ‘I Am’ sent you.” I wonder if Moses said something like, “Gee, thanks…”
But is there anything more powerful than the truth that the Almighty God is present in all our situations? After all, this is the God whose presence pushed the waters of the Red Sea over the entire Egyptian Army, birthed God’s self into human form on the first Christmas, healed the woman who touched the edge of Jesus’ robe, forgave sins, raised Jesus from the dead, and energized the disciples to spread the gospel across the world in the face of persecution and death!
God, I AM, is present with us today…now…as you read this! The power and love to do his will in your life is available to you and I.
Last week in worship we talked about how disciples of Jesus discern and do God’s will using Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience. This week on “The Disciple’s Path” series, we will talk about the importance of being present to God and each other in worship and small groups. Being together is what disciples of Jesus do.
I hope to see you at 8:30 or 10:45! And bring a friend!
Pastor Cameron
P.S.-I’d love to hear how you are and how I can pray for you. Feel free to drop me a line at clashbrook@lakesidefellowship.org.