The Wilderness Whisper and a Burden Rediscovered

This past week, my wife and I had the privilege of escaping the everyday hustle, taking a much-

needed trip to DeGray for our anniversary. The air was fresh, the pace was slow, and for a few

precious days, the world seemed to quiet its insistent demands. One morning, as I sat on the back

deck of our cabin, a steaming cup of coffee in hand, gazing out into the dense, rain-soaked

woods, a profound thought settled over me. It wasn't a fleeting idea, but a conviction that began

to burn deep within my spirit: We, as the people of God, need to get burdened again.

This wasn't a new concept for me, but a reawakening of something essential. I remembered

seasons of my life when burdens were a driving force, a holy ache in my soul that spurred me to

fervent prayer and relentless action. I recalled the intense burden I carried when I was praying

for a wife – it consumed my heart and mind, shaping my prayers and my days. Then, the

yearning for children. I would come up here, to a place like this, and literally surrender

everything, begging God: "Lord, if You will give me a child, I will do everything within my

power to raise that child to know and love You, to teach them about Your ways."

Those were burdens that propelled me, not crushed me. They were ignited by a divine spark,

sustained by a deep-seated conviction that God was able, and that my part was to respond with

passionate prayer and faithful commitment.

You hear stories, don't you? Tales of old circuit-riding pastors who would brave the elements,

traversing vast distances on horseback, preaching the Word of God from one small, isolated

community to the next. Why did they do it? Not for fame, not for fortune, but because they

carried a burden. A relentless, holy burden for souls. You hear of entire villages overseas,

untouched by the Gospel, until one man heard their desperate cry. One man, burdened by the

knowledge that people had never heard the liberating truth of Jesus Christ, set out, often against

impossible odds, to bring them the Good News.

These aren't just quaint stories from history books. They are testimonies to a universal truth:

Show me a man or a woman with a deep-seated, deeply rooted burden in their heart, and I

will show you a force to be reckoned with.

When you are genuinely driven by a burden that God has placed within you, something

supernatural happens. God begins to do things, not just through you, but bigger than you could

ever imagine or achieve in your own strength. It’s when our will aligns with His burden that the

miraculous becomes the norm.

This morning, as we delve into the ancient yet ever-relevant story of Moses, we’re going to

explore what it means to truly carry "A Burning Burden." We’ll see how God reveals these

burdens, how we receive them, and how, in His perfect timing, we are empowered to release

them into action.

The Man, Moses: A Life Prepared for Purpose

Our journey begins in Exodus 3, with a man named Moses. We touched on his early life before,

particularly on Mother's Day, remembering how his mother, Jochebed, was forced to release him

into the world, trusting God with his fragile life. "Here, God," she must have prayed, "here is my

child; I am going to trust You." It was her profound faith and trust in God that incredibly allowed

her to be the very one to raise her own son during his formative years. Because of her obedience

and God's sovereign hand, Moses knew from a young age that his calling was unique, and his

convictions about right and wrong, about the one true God, were deeply instilled into him even

within the pagan confines of Pharaoh's palace. This is why the Word of God teaches us in

Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart

from it." Moses' early life, steeped in Hebrew faith despite his surroundings, laid a crucial

foundation.

He grew up as an adopted son in that powerful, idolatrous palace of Egypt, living a life of

privilege and influence. He was "educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful

in speech and action" (Acts 7:22). But at age 40, his life took a dramatic turn. He committed

murder, killing an Egyptian who was brutally abusing a Hebrew slave. This act, while driven by

a nascent burden for his people, was done in his own strength, in his own timing, and it forced

him to flee. He left the grandeur of Egypt behind and hid in the wilderness of Midian,

transforming from a prince to a simple shepherd.

For forty long years, Moses lived this quiet, unassuming life, tending sheep, far from the palaces

and politics of Egypt. He was eighty years old when our text picks up his story. Forty years in

Pharaoh's palace learning the ways of man, and forty years in the wilderness learning the ways of

God – a profound, unexpected preparation for the monumental task ahead. Are you ready for the

Word of God?

The Burning Bush: A Burden Revealed

Exodus 3:1-6 (NKJV) 1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest

of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of

God. 2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So

he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then

Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”

4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the

bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not draw near

this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” 6

Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the

God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

With the help of God, I want to talk to you this morning on the subject: "A Burning Burden."

What do you do when God calls you to action? In the life of Moses, we see that God places a

burning bush in front of him and instills a burning burden within him. And I believe there are

burdens that need to be kindled, and fires that need to be ignited in our hearts this morning.

Notice first, I want to invite you to the Burning Bush, where we see "A Burden Revealed."

Moses experiences a head-on collision with the divine here. He's living life like normal, tending

to sheep, far out in the desert. Nothing special, just the ordinary, mundane rhythm of a shepherd's

life. What he sees next, however, is anything but normal. Why would a bush be burning in a

random place in the middle of nowhere? Sometimes, God uses not-normal situations to grab

our attention. He breaks into our routines, our comfortable complacency, to reveal something

profound.

But notice what the text says in verse 3: "Then Moses said, 'I will now turn aside and see this

great sight, why the bush does not burn.'"

This bush literally breaks into his mundane routine. It's not normal. It defies logic. He cannot

ignore it; he has to look into it. The phrase "turn aside to look" is key here. It implies a deliberate

halt to his normal activity and a focused curiosity. He is actively choosing to engage with this

extraordinary event.

Have you ever seen something in life that just absolutely got your attention? Something that

broke through the noise, the distractions, the everyday routine, and just made you stop and

notice?

This past week, I had one of those moments. I was sitting out in a hot tub on a trip, just trying to

relax. It was pouring rain, and I was listening to some old southern Gospel music and a podcast,

letting the sounds wash over me. I was just sitting there, praying and talking to God, feeling

pretty content.

The rain started coming down harder, though. So hard that I finally turned the music off. Then,

the hot tub jets were making too much noise, so I turned the hot tub off too. And I just sat there,

listening to the rain, the only sound filling the air. There was some thunder rolling in the distance,

but in the profound silence of everything else, it was like I heard a clear whisper, a profound

sense of God's presence, asking me to simply listen.

It was in that quiet, stripped-down moment, no podcast, no music, no distractions, that God truly

grabbed my attention. I had been studying and outlining this very sermon, had even prepared

some points that I later deleted. Some things in my life I had been worrying about, needing

answers for, and in that moment of hearing, not the podcast or the music, but God's quiet

presence, He began to speak to my heart.

Listen, I think a lot of times we are so focused on getting information—more and more and more

—that we are leaving out the meditation. See, meditation on the Word helps it to seep into our

souls and speak to our hearts.

I want to teach you a principle here: it’s the word MEDITATE.

Yes, the biblical concept of "meditate" (especially the Hebrew word הָגָה - hagah, found in

Psalm 1:2 and Joshua 1:8) very strongly aligns with the idea of a cow ruminating or "chewing

the cud."

Here's why: To meditate is to think deeper, to ponder, contemplate, or reflect upon something.

Joshua 1:8 says, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall

meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For

then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

Hagah implies a deep, internal pondering – turning something over and over in your mind. The

Ruminant Analogy clarifies this:

• A cow eats grass, swallows it, and then later brings it back up to chew it again, often for

hours. This process extracts every last bit of nutrient and moisture.

• Similarly, biblical meditation (hagah) involves:

◦ Ingesting the Word: Reading, hearing, or memorizing a passage.

◦ Regurgitating/Re-chewing: Bringing it back to mind throughout the day,

thinking about it, turning it over, saying it aloud softly, asking questions about it.

◦ Extracting Nutrients: The goal is to fully digest the spiritual truth, allowing it to

penetrate your mind, heart, and actions. It gives you spiritual nourishment.

When we hide the Word of God in our heart and ruminate on it, meditate on it, God reveals to us

what His will is for our life. Church, listen: I'm not saying God is going to speak to you audibly,

because we believe the canon of Scripture is closed. You cannot add to it or take away. But the

Scripture, as you meditate on it, reveals to you what it means and says. Sometimes you may not

understand it immediately, but over time of ruminating on it, it makes sense.

I believe God grabbed my attention listening to the rain, just like He grabbed Moses' attention

that day. And sometimes, it's in those quiet times, those moments of stillness, that you get to hear

or get clear what God has already spoken into your spirit.

That's what hit me when the rain was pouring and the thunder was rolling: We've got to learn to

ruminate, to meditate again. And God grabbed my attention in that moment.

And then, later, Tanner texted me and said, "We are making disciples! Our people are growing!

They are deeper! Our altars are full!" Your depth is determined by your ruminating. How can

God take you deeper than you are not willing to go?

See, I had been struggling, trying to go one route with my sermon, and I knew God gave me a

burden to talk about burdens. But then I realized, just like Moses, sometimes God uses

unexpected situations, unexpected circumstances, to do big things. But there are times, as a

pastor, we shut our laptop and we walk away, because it's a battle—the burden of what we want

to say versus us saying what God has said. And maybe just maybe today, you need to just get

into a quiet place and listen to what God has already spoken into your spirit through His Word.

God didn't just give Moses a job; He ignited a burning burden within him. God placed a burning

bush in front of Moses' eyes, and that amazing sight set a fire deep in his heart. And I believe,

dear friends, that there are burdens that need to be kindled in our own hearts this morning. There

are fires that need to be ignited within us, urging us toward God's purposes.

God grabs Moses' attention through this extraordinary sight. What does this fire symbolize?

• A. The fire symbolizes God's holy passion. It's not a cold, indifferent God, but one

consumed with passionate love and justice for His people.

• B. The fire symbolizes God's active presence. God isn't distant or detached; He is

actively present in the midst of human suffering.

• C. But that bush not being consumed symbolizes that despite the fire, you will not

burn up or burn out. I'm reminded of the three Hebrew boys—Shadrach, Meshach, and

Abednego—who were thrown into the fiery furnace in obedience to God. The fire was

hot, but it didn't consume them. It's a good old Old Testament principle: that fire might

get hot, but it cannot consume those who belong to the Lord.

You might get hot. You might be oppressed. You might go through some fiery things. But the

things you go through will not be bigger than the purpose God has for you. Just because the fire

is burning and the fire is hot, it doesn't mean that God is not in the fire with you. He was showing

Moses that His burden and His heart were not so that the people would burn out or burn up, but

that the people would get out and not be consumed.

See here are these Israelites, His people, hurting:

• Harsh labor: Literally working their fingers to the bone, forced into brutal brick-making

and other tasks.

• Starvation was real.

• Cruel taskmasters: Overseers who tormented them relentlessly.

• Infanticide was normal: A decree to kill all newborn Hebrew male babies, which was

specifically why Moses himself was hidden and then put in the Nile.

Their life was all suffering and bondage, living in what was essentially hell on earth. And God,

seeing their affliction, gives Moses a burden to break them out of their bondage.

Here is Moses. He turns his head aside. God has got his attention. What is something God is

revealing to you right now? What is your burning bush moment? Your "hot tub moment?" What

turns your head and breaks your heart? Some of you, God has already gotten your attention.

There is something on your heart and mind. Some of you, just being here today, should get your

attention. You should be dead, but bless God, you’re still alive! Is He leading you and revealing

to you that it's time to act on the burden within you?

A Burden Received: The Personal Call

Not only do we see that there is a Burden Revealed to Moses, but then we see A Burden

Received.

Look again at Exodus 3:4-6: "So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to

him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He

said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you

stand is holy ground.” 6 Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham,

the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon

God."

As Moses turns to look, God speaks directly to him: "Moses, Moses!" This isn't a random call;

it's intensely personal. It’s important. It demands attention. The double calling of his name is

God's way of saying, "Moses, I want your undivided attention. Listen to me!" It's a personal call,

a personal calling to receive a burden from God for Moses. I imagine Moses’ head cocked

sideways, almost like a dog trying to understand a strange sound, processing this impossible

sight and now this direct address.

Then comes the command: "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the

place where you stand is holy ground." Why does God want his shoes off? It’s not because He

has a foot fetish! It's because this is holy ground. God is there. God the Father is there. The Holy

Spirit is there. God the Father has revealed Himself there in His divine essence and presence.

Well, I came to tell someone today at New Beginnings: You, my friends, are standing on holy

ground! This is a place God has destined for His glory to be seen and shown.

A month ago, our men prayed over me. I had been sick, in bed for six days. I went to my doctor,

and the doctor said, "I can't explain this. Your blood work is perfect!" I said, "I can explain it:

GOD DID IT!"

Think about Vickey Thompson, who had been in a wheelchair for a year. Roger Finley anointed

her and prayed over her. She walked into the church house! I looked back, and she was standing

with her arms raised. You say, "Why are her arms raised?" You don't know the hell God pulled

her out of! He put her feet back on solid ground. She can't help but praise Him! She can't help

but worship Him! GOD DID IT!

Michael Welches' back was all screwed up. We prayed over him. He was able to go back to work

deal with his pain, and God touched his whole family! Hallelujah! God healed him!

Sean Lane’s daughter:

1. She was taken to the ER because she was throwing up in excruciating pain with a

migraine, which is unusual for her.

2. Her migraine continued to get worse, and they couldn’t find anything on her test results

that would explain why.

3. She was admitted to the hospital.

4. Her migraine continued to get worse. She had an MRI that discovered she had a spinal

fluid leak coming out of an opening, and it couldn’t be explained how it occurred.

5. She was in really bad shape, very lethargic. Sean says, "I started to panic. She was

scheduled the next day to see a neurologist to go into her spine to try to repair her leak. I

asked for prayer."

6. Within two hours of asking for prayer, she was completely 100% back to her funny, silly,

healthy self. It was amazing.

7. The doctors couldn’t explain how or why she was so much better in an instant. I knew the

Lord had healed her.

8. The next day, a follow-up MRI was done, and she was completely healed. Only a small

scar where a leak used to exist. The medical staff said they had never seen anything like

it.

Sean said, "The doctor might not be able to explain it, but I can: GOD is a healer!"

Consider Charlie Smith. Thirteen months ago, one day, my wife Delores and I were talking about

what to do if he passed. We prayed and kept asking God to heal him. We were calling the family

in: "Reach out to everyone! Come see Charlie! We don't know if he will make it!" We were in the

church. We lifted up our hands to Heaven and said, "God, we might look stupid! It might not

make sense! But we believe You can heal him!" They took him off the vent, and he breathed on

his own for hours. GOD healed him! He walked into church the next Sunday!

I'm telling you, here in Malvern, Arkansas, God has anointed New Beginnings! This is holy

ground!

How does a church with no money and no pastor buy a restaurant on a hill with a big parking lot

that was completely in disarray and destroyed? When nobody is giving out loans? 9/11 had just

happened; the banks were not giving out money. It was a $200,000 purchase then. Now, it's

worth over a million dollars! I'll tell you why: It's holy ground! It doesn't make sense to the

world, but it makes perfect sense when God is involved.

This was the "fish net" that God cast out on a hill outside of Malvern, at 3603 Oliver Lancaster

Blvd. This is holy ground where God is doing a holy thing, a holy work in a people who have

understood what the Scripture says is what goes. If the Bible says it, we will stand on it. If the

Bible calls it sin, we will call it sin. We have submitted to this book, the Bible. We have

submitted to our God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. And we, indwelt with His Spirit, have

become a solid rock for His glory. We understand that Jesus said, "That on this rock I will build

My church, of which the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).

"God gave us a tangible rock here at New Beginnings—this very place, this community. But

more profoundly, He Himself is the Chief Cornerstone and the unshakeable Rock of our

salvation. And on that eternal foundation, He is truly building something beautiful."

How does a church pay off $100,000 in debt from 2024 to 2025, with only $130,000 left? It's

holy ground. It's anointed ground. It's purposed ground!

Why did God want Moses' shoes off? It wasn't because he has a foot fetish! It's because He

wants him to understand that when the Holy Spirit of God is speaking to him and he is standing

on holy ground, Moses must act in reverence. There is a physical recognition due to God's

holiness.

The burden from God is received. Now notice, church, let me ask you: Do you truly have a

burden for the people of Malvern, or even for your own family? How are we here today?

Because people got a burden for a church to be in Malvern, where we can say: "I don't care what

you did, what you wear, what you said, what you have done. I don't care about your tattoos. I

don't care if you've been divorced. I don't care if you've lived in sin. The grace of God is great

and big enough to forgive you of that sin, redeem you, save you, change you."

Here is Moses. He has a burden received by God. Now he has a work to do for God. Let me ask

another question: What is God personally burdening your spirit with right now? Like, I can stand

up here and testify to the amazing things God has done. But what is God burdening your heart

with that you have yet to see Him do? We can look back and recognize those holy ground

moments—those burning bush, hot tub moments of His greatness, His faithfulness. We can

testify to what God has done in the past. But are we praying for God to do big things in the

future? Some of you don't know this, but I remember when there were just 18 people, and

Delores and Curtis and these older people who sat in the back would come up here and beg God

to grow this church and build this church. They had a burden. Let's get a burden!

A Burden Released: God's Compassion and Command

Exodus 3:7-10 (NKJV) 7 And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people

who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their

sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring

them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the

place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and

the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I

have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now, therefore,

and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of

Egypt.”

God expresses His deep empathy: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people... and have

heard their cry... for I know their sorrows." This is God's intimate understanding of their pain.

And then, the punchline: "Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may

bring My people... out of Egypt."

God is saying, "I'm sending you." He knows their sorrow. Just like God raised Moses up out of

the water, placing him in a palace that was purposed to kill him, now God is raising him up to

conquer the palace, or rather, to get God's people out of the problem they are placed in. They are

living in hell, literally.

Listen, the burden God had placed upon Moses, raised him up, and purposed him with was not

just a feeling. God knew personally and felt horrible. He was burdened for His people and their

pain, living in bondage, being told they had to worship these false gods that are not real. So what

does God do?

The burden is not meant to be held onto; it's meant to be released into action. God says, "Moses,

I've got your back. Go do this."

Two questions this morning: What is a burden that's weighing you down? Perhaps it's something

personal: finances, marriage struggles, challenges with children, home issues, job stress, career

uncertainties, struggles with aging parents, or deeply personal battles.

Or, what is a burden that is bigger than you right now? Maybe it's a burden for the lost. Maybe

it's a burden for the broken. A burden for a family member who is struggling, or addicted, or

depressed. Mental health is a real battle in our society. Do you have a burden for the brokenness

going on in our society? Oh God, pray for us to have a burden!

God's compassion for His people's pain is so deep that He acts. And His action involves sending

Moses. The burning burden isn't meant to be held onto; it's meant to be released into action.

Moses' immediate reaction ("Who am I?") shows his fear, his sense of inadequacy. But God's

purpose is far greater than Moses' personal qualifications. Listen to me: your whole life you will

put personal limitations on what God has already destined for your life.

Exodus 3:11: "But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should

bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”"

Some of you, you say, "I can't." "I can't start this business." "I can't pay that debt off." "I can't

have children." "I can't go to church." "I can't quit this addiction." "I can't get a wife." "I can't

lose the weight." "I can't overcome this battle." "I can't."

And you are carrying a heavy backpack of excuses. Maybe today you need to take the backpack

of "I can't" off. And you need to just pray, "Lord, help me with the 'can'ts,' and help me to

understand, 'I CAN!'"

I can, not because of what I can do, but because of what Christ has done. And Moses first had to

see that he can't, but God can.

There was a powerful story about a man who had a dream. He had heard that Russia desperately

needed the Word of God. He researched it and found out there were only about 2,000 churches,

and most of them were not Christian churches. He hired someone to translate the Word of God

into Russian. And because one man got a burden from God to be obedient to a calling from God,

now there are churches of Christianity all around Russia. The number of active churches in

Russia significantly increased, with one source indicating a rise from 2,000 to 20,000 active

churches between 1991 and 2019. In 1971, he got the burden. By 1973, he was getting it

translated. By 1975, he and his family were going once a month. By 1980, they moved over

there, printing thousands of Bibles in the Russian language a week. By 2019, there are 20,000

active churches, people worshipping in them! Why? Because one man decided to listen to what

God was burdening him with.

It's very hard for me to stop right here. Because right after God reveals a burden to Moses,

Moses pulls out a backpack of excuses. Listen to me: you can spend your whole life producing

excuses. I beg you to give God a chance so He can show you you can create results.

Maybe just maybe, it was you doing it in your own strength that God got you here this morning,

and you're hungry and you're searching for something because the crap you have been dealing

with and going through is just not cutting it, is just not working. Listen, I hear you.

Moses' "Who am I?" (Exodus 3:11) reminds me of the story of the four Christians: Everybody,

Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was a special job to do: Preach the Gospel. Everybody

was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would. Anybody could have done it, but

Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody

thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up

that Everybody blamed Somebody.

Will you be that somebody that does something for everybody so that they can get somebody

(Jesus) that will change their life forever?