"I AM" a verb (Part 1)

I was recently reading in my devotions the story of Moses and the burning bush in Exodus 3. Previous to this, Moses had killed an Egyptian while defending a fellow Hebrew. His deed was discovered, and now a wanted man, he fled to Midian. There he met and married one of Jethro’s daughters and took up shepherding for the next 40 years. On one occasion, while tending his father-in-law’s flock on Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, he happened upon a burning bush. He said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” God’s presence was in the midst of the bush, and when He saw that Moses turned aside to look, He called him by name. Moses responded, “Here I am.” God then introduced Himself to Moses as, “I AM WHO I AM.”

I just returned from a trip to Zimbabwe. While I was there I met with a few young adults at their weekly Bible Study. I had a chance to share with them that I wrote a book and the reason why. Hearing that I had been following Jesus for 42 years, the leader of the group asked me to comment on how I viewed my relationship with God as this may help them as young people. I referred to it as a journey where at any point I have the opportunity to encounter God and discover Him in a new way.

It is stories like Moses’ encounter with God that remind me that God meant for us to be on a living, active journey with Him, because He is a living, active God. When God says that He is “I AM WHO I AM,” He is saying that He is living, active, dynamic, moving. “I AM” is a verb, not a noun.

After I shared about seeing my life with God as a journey, the young man said that most of us view our relationship with God like something we need to graduate from and to. Like graduating from primary school and moving to secondary school, and graduating from secondary school and going to University, and graduating from University and then getting a job, and then hoping to be promoted in a job, etc. I thought this was an apt analogy of how we view our lives. For me, it is like turning a verb into a noun. A verb that is alive and full of grace and then turning it into a dead noun or principle or method or formula that speaks of rules. Once we do that, something about our relationship with God dies. It turns what should be a process into an event. It is during the process that growth occurs and change in our characters takes place.

During Moses’ journey in his own desert he encounters God. He notices something alive on that mountain that catches his attention. He turns aside to take in this great sight. It is only when the Lord sees that Moses stops and turns aside to look that He calls to him. Moses’ response in saying “Here I am” is an indication that he is present to engage with God. God is alive and active in the burning bush. Moses is alive and active in his response to an invitation to go deeper. Once God sees this desire to go deeper, He reveals to Moses His Name, “I AM.” This Name encapsulates everything Moses needs Him to be at that moment of being commissioned to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

What a picture of the alive, active journey God wants to take each one of us on, and how He wants to reveal more and more of Himself at every turn of our journey. The question is: Will we take the time to turn aside to see this great sight, and allow “I AM” to be a verb by being whatever He needs to be at that point in our journey, and at every turn henceforth?