I'm a burning bush!

Last weekend I had the amazing pleasure of serving at the Womens Tres Dias of North GA #107. I thought going through the weekend myself in January was life-changing! Well serving on one was even more of a blessing!

One evening, in a daze, after a busy day a group of us were asked to join our leader and all the other women in the chapel. Our leader had something important she wanted all of us to hear. The room was packed and as we were the last group to arrive we lined the back wall. Some stood, some sat on the floor including myself. I shifted on the floor to get more comfy and in the process caught the eye of the worship leader to my right. She had the most peculiar look on her face! A look of utter shock mixed with speechlessness and horror! I looked to my left to catch a glimpse of what she was looking at! In a instant I had about 4 ladies swatting at me or more accurately, my hair. Since my hair was styled in a poofy Afro pulled away from my face, I had somehow leaned a little too close to a lit votive candle that was on the window sill. It didn't truly hit me until the stench of burning hair hit the entire room. After my hair and the candle was put out I slumped back down onto the floor(sorry for ruining the ambiance ladies.) When I closed my eyes I saw the numbers 3 and 18. I made a mental note to look into that. By then all the commotion had interrupted our leader's talk and everyone was looking at me asking if I was okay. I was so tired, I don't think what happened truly sunk in, lol. When our leader asked what was going on, the worship leader said, "Just the devil's butt!" Did I just get called a devil's butt? LOL. The whole moment was surreal. Our group, being the last in, was also the first out to allow us to get back to what we were doing.

One major lesson the Lord has really impressing on me lately is that everything has a purpose. Immediately following this rescue drama everyone kept asking me if I was okay. In my tired, dry humor I just kept saying, "Yeah. I was just on fire, that's all." All kinds of jokes and laughter ensued because now everyone knew I was okay. It was funny for about an hour and then I started to get a little somber. I began hearing the worship leader's comment over and over in my head, "Oh just the devils butt." I know she wasn't insulting me or putting me down. It was just a commentary on the enemy's scheme to distract us during such an important talk. Still...I was deeply troubled. I cried out to Abba. "Why would You allow that to happen? Why did You allow the enemy to use me that way? You're teaching me there's a purpose in everything so what was the purpose of THAT!!!" I kept pondering as I washed up and got ready for bed. As I laid in bed my Faithful Father spoke, "Burning Bush." I started laughing to myself at our private joke. I was a burning bush!! God is so funny. Still I pressed deeper for meaning and He immediately reminded me of the numbers He showed me- 3 and 18. I made a mental note to look up some bible references in the morning, but God had other plans. I tossed and turned for 20 minutes and couldn't fall asleep and knew He wanted me to look it up NOW. Since my roomies were asleep I did't want to disturb them, and I remembered there was a bible on the table in the hallway. I made a beeline for it.

Out to the hall my buddy was sitting there with a bag of Doritos, lol! She was hungry but didn't want to keep anyone up with all the crunching as it was well after midnight. TC is hilarious! I grabbed the bible, we shared Doritos, and I shared with her all God was showing me. Together we tried to solve the mystery. I must have flipped to 5 or 6 six different 3:18 verses..nothing clicked. Finally TC says, "Well..what book of the bible is the burning bush in?" AH-HA Exodus!! See, you don't have to be smart...just surround yourself with smart people :) I quickly flipped there and read. My mouth just dropped open:

"The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.' - Exodus 3:18

Whoa! Here I was on a three day retreat that's all about drawing nearer to Christ and experiencing Him personally. We too were separating ourselves by taking a 3 day journey, removing ourselves from the enemy and life's distractions (going out into the desert so to speak.) We're all were making sacrifices to the Lord through worship and purging ourselves of whatever He revealed to us! Oh, by the way, keep in mind that the theme verse for the weekend was Isaiah 43:18-19 which reads:


Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.
Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.

I continued to read past Exodus 3:18 to the end of the chapter...

18 "The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.' 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

21 "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians."

Wow! We were in the "desert" now on a 3 day journey, indeed. Our sole purpose was to meet with the Lord and offer Him our sacrifices as well as ALL our burdens. In the passage, Israel is called to confront the Egyptian leaders (Egypt usually symbolizes sin or bondage.) The ladies as well as those serving were called to confront all the bondage's and sin, leave it behind so we could go meet with the Lord. I began thinking about what all these women, wives, mothers, and working women had to battle just to get there that weekend.

19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.


Here's the cool part. In these verses God called the enemy to bless His people! It was a God retreat for the Israelites, but the enemy was footing the bill! LOOK!

21 "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians."

As TC and I sat there reading we just stared at each other mouths open (Dorito-free praise God, lol). How good is my God? He used me as a sign to confirm that we were all supposed to be there, that we were in the center of His will.

I'm reminded of a couple that God placed in my path after losing contact with one another for years. We reconnected a few months ago. My friend said that God told her to call me for advice/prayer over some issues in her life and towards the end of the conversation she said, "I know this sounds weird but I really feel like I need to go on a retreat. Do you know of any retreats coming up!?" LOL. I had just completed my own Tres Dias weekend in January and I was all too excited to sponsor her and her hubby. Well, the seed was planted but the enemy was quick to choke it out with distractions/oppression and lies. Unfortunately they never made it to their weekend.

19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

I'm learning that the Lord sets it all up for us. He opens the doors if we'll just walk through them. He's still establishing "burning bushes" in our individual lives all the time if we'll just be vigilant and sober enough to recognize them; if we simply keep our eyes openly expecting them. If we simply press in to Him. If we simply use discernment and not believe the lies of the enemy. God desires an extremely intimate relationship with all of us. He's not far away, He's not pointing a finger, He's actually speaking to us all today and every day. Are we listening? That prompting to call someone? Not a coincidence. DO IT! It could mean life or death. That prompting to read a scripture. DO IT! It may change the entire course of your life!

This past weekend I walked away with many new nicknames:

Hunka hunka burning love
Michael Jackson (Remember that Pepsi commercial, lol)

But my favorite is the one that the Lord gave me - Burning Bush. I want to be a burning bush. A sign and wonder for my generation, a light that may help someone to the next place God has for them or simply draw them one step closer to God.

Are you a burning bush? Want to be one? The Lord invites us all to "come away" with Him. It may not be a three day journey but how about starting with a 20 minute quiet time today if you've never done that before...

He is so Lovely...