The Biblical book of Exodus contains the story of the Israelites from enslavement in Egypt through their wilderness journey.    Moses  encounters  God in a burning bush and is told that he must go to  Pharaoh in Egypt to free the Israelites who are enslaved there.    God finds Moses to be  a reluctant recruit.    After many protests Moses asks God, “Who should I say is sending me?”  God responds by saying, “I am, who I am” or in other interpretations  “I will be who I will be.”  The season of Lent is  a time when I reflect on my faith journey. I ask myself,  “Who God is in my life  at this point? And just what is it that God is trying to do in and through me now?”

I appreciate this season of the year which encourages introspection. Sometimes it has set me searching out the scripture with a renewed interest and enthusiasm.   Hard questions in my life  tend not to  have answers which come easily. I’ve always had  to struggle, searching out through prayer, scripture and friends the questions that have confronted me.  Solutions which at first appear obvious become less so as a question is researched, confronted, prayed over. Then, piece by piece, God’s wisdom breaks through barriers inside us.  We are led  on paths we never  expected to travel.   We may be pushed outside of our comfort zones.

God continues to surprise us.   We will never know all there is to know about God.  Just about the time we think we do, God reminds us,  “I will be who I will be.” The question for each of us is,  “Will we let God be who God wants to be in our lives? Or will we stay firmly rooted in who we want God to be instead?