FPOC and the Burning Bush

FPOC – Fear, Pride, and Over Compensation

I’ve not provided a survey to you all, but I assume most of you are over 10 years of age. In fact, I pretty much know everyone is 20+. So, are you still a child of wonder?

Exodus 3:1-5
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.”

When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground…”

It’s SO VERY DIFFICULT to be a child of wonder these days. In fact, if Moses had been with one of his pals, I wonder if even he would have responded in a more socially acceptable manner:

With Fear – “Son of a b!@#, ” he’d say and trot off with his buddy. “Did you see that thing? Lots of fire and the damn thing wasn’t even burning.”

With Pride – “What’s the big deal? It’s a freakin’ bush. It’s fire. You haven’t seen fire before, or what?”

With Over Compensation – “Hurry, let’s put it out! My flock grazes here. If it burns up, they’ll all starve. Hurry, help me put it out!”

These are societal norms. This is how they think. This is how your friends think. This is how we all think. “Having no fear is ridiculous. Who am I, Superman?”
“Pride? I’m not prideful. Everyone else are just idiots. I can’t help that.”
“Of course I’m going to take care of that issue. It needed to be done, so I did it. Period.”

Release your fears. The fear of rabid wolves and rattle snakes are fears for rookies. The hard ones are the fear of not being desired, not being needed – The fear of not having what it takes, the fear of failing.

Turn these loose and you’ll be amazed by the fact that fear’s silent partner – pride – will go with them.

Many people focus on Moses calling, “Here I am!” when they read the scripture above, but focus on a different piece of this story – So Moses thought

There are burning bushes all around you. Slow down and think. Think about the wonder that surrounds you every day. And go investigate. See, the angel of the Lord did not speak to Moses until after he decided to go check out the burning bush.