Exodus 3:1-3 “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, ‘I will go over and see this strange sight–why the bush does not burn up.”

Negative skeptics of the Bible sometimes try to explain away the miracles Moses did in Egypt with naturalistic explanations. The Nile River turning to “blood” was the result of a mud slide of red clay upstream. This drove the frogs out of the river and they became a nuisance in the Egyptian homes. Away from the water the frogs died, and their decaying bodies produced first the plague of gnats, and then the flies. You get the picture.

The burning bush is not the biggest miracle the Lord ever performed, but it pretty much defies naturalistic explanations. The bush was engulfed in fire, but the fire was not being fed by the bush. The branches were not charred, and the leaves did not wither and turn to ash in the heat. A voice speaks to Moses from within the bush. Unless one claims that Moses had schizophrenic episodes, this is an example of God’s supernatural power to suspend the laws of nature.

Moses did not immediately connect the dots between this display of divine power and his call. He later tried to convince the God who could suspend the laws of nature like this that somehow Moses’ own talents were too limited for the mission he was giving him. Moses failed to put two and two together. But we shouldn’t. One of the reasons to be confident we can fulfill the mission God gives us is the power of the God who sends us.

That’s not to say that miracles are guaranteed. One of our country’s first really big prosperity preachers used to say, “Expect a Miracle.” The problem is, part of what makes a miracle a miracle is that it is relatively rare.

So we don’t “expect” miracles. But we still depend on God’s power and fully trust his ability to help. “Pastor, will you pray for me?” my people sometimes ask. It’s not as though I personally have powers to cure cancer, heal injuries, or relieve heartache when they ask. But I know the God who does. He is the one who sent me to serve them. His power gives all of us confidence to pray even for the impossible. Then we see how he will answer, whether by bending natural laws or using them fully to our advantage.

What if we think we don’t fit needs of the people God wants us to serve? What if we feel we have been mismatched with our assignment? Perhaps our personal gifts don’t seem right. By any reasonable measure, most would consider us too old, or too young for the job. We have no experience with this kind of thing. What do we have to offer?

We have the gospel message God has given us. It is the key to every human heart. Paul calls it the “power of God for salvation.” It is the quintessential power of the God who sends us. Our callings are not about you, or me, any more than Moses’ ministry was about him, or Aaron, or the fickle Children of Israel he was sent to lead. It is about our powerful God. He’s the one who sends us. Expect him to make something of it.