“Life In The Middle”
February 2025
“Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
And he said, “Here I am.”” Exodus 3:1-4 NRSV
I was in a conversation recently when someone asked, “When are we not living in the middle?” Their question caught me off guard. I resisted it and immediately wanted to jump to all the “beginnings” in life. I like the beginning (and the end) a lot more than the middle. Seasons are a perfect example. I like the beginning of winter and I definitely like the end of it. But the middle…not so much. Which makes February a challenge!
But all of our beginnings happen in the middle of something else. And the same is true for the passage above. Moses was in the middle of his life, the middle of being a shepherd, the middle of his time in Midian, and in the middle of the wilderness (technically beyond it!)
Sometimes being in the middle means we pay less attention. It’s not “new” anymore. We “know how this works.” But life in the middle requires just as much listening because we never know when God is going to show up. Thankfully, Moses was paying attention because he noticed the bush was on fire and, more importantly, he noticed the bush wasn’t consumed.
He was a busy guy, trying to keep up with life in the middle with a bunch of sheep. But what he saw sparked a burning question and he had to investigate. And when God saw that…he spoke from the bush. Listening to life in the middle was the catalyst for Moses leaving Midian, going back to Egypt, and leading the flock of Israel out of slavery.
I think the same can be true for us as well. As we’re “Charting Our Course” in 2025 take time to listen and learn from life in the middle.
In Christ,
Pastor Thomas
And he said, “Here I am.”” Exodus 3:1-4 NRSV
I was in a conversation recently when someone asked, “When are we not living in the middle?” Their question caught me off guard. I resisted it and immediately wanted to jump to all the “beginnings” in life. I like the beginning (and the end) a lot more than the middle. Seasons are a perfect example. I like the beginning of winter and I definitely like the end of it. But the middle…not so much. Which makes February a challenge!
But all of our beginnings happen in the middle of something else. And the same is true for the passage above. Moses was in the middle of his life, the middle of being a shepherd, the middle of his time in Midian, and in the middle of the wilderness (technically beyond it!)
Sometimes being in the middle means we pay less attention. It’s not “new” anymore. We “know how this works.” But life in the middle requires just as much listening because we never know when God is going to show up. Thankfully, Moses was paying attention because he noticed the bush was on fire and, more importantly, he noticed the bush wasn’t consumed.
He was a busy guy, trying to keep up with life in the middle with a bunch of sheep. But what he saw sparked a burning question and he had to investigate. And when God saw that…he spoke from the bush. Listening to life in the middle was the catalyst for Moses leaving Midian, going back to Egypt, and leading the flock of Israel out of slavery.
I think the same can be true for us as well. As we’re “Charting Our Course” in 2025 take time to listen and learn from life in the middle.
In Christ,
Pastor Thomas
