I WILL BE WITH YOU [Abide Bible Sleep Talk Down Relaxing Music to Beat Insomnia]

this meditation, I invite you to rest in the words God said to Moses when he was exhausted, angry and afraid. God said to Moses, "I will be with you" and tonight as you turn to sleep, he says this to you as well, "I will be with you." When God revealed himself to Moses in a burning bush, the place was holy sacred ground, so God asked Moses to take off his shoes. Here tonight, after you have taken off your shoes and as you turn to sleep, I invite you to also take off your burdens. Set them

aside trusting that where you are right now, God is with you and where God is, this is holy ground too. So close your eyes, allow peace into every part of your body. Slow your breath. Breathe in goodness and trust. Exhale, letting go of anxious thoughts. Breathe in peace and love and then breathe out the day's troubles. As you settle into a good night of sleep, I invite you to acknowledge the nearness of God. No matter how close or distant you have been to Jesus today, turn back into his presence and sink into his love. Father

God, as I finished this day, I trust that you desire my company even while I am sleeping. Even while I sleep, you can heal my hurts. Even while I sleep, you can restore my exhausted mind and body. Even while I sleep, you can reveal your love to me and fill me with grace and mercy. As I have taken off my shoes for bed, I take off my burdens and hand them to you. I rest knowing that those things that are still unfinished today, I trust you will help me with these things tomorrow. God speaks the

words for you tonight that he spoke to Moses, "I will be with you." He wants these words to burn bright and clear before you like the fire that burned before Moses. He wants his words to break through your darkness to penetrate deep into your inner being to grow in you confidence and love. God is a blazing fire of goodness, warmth and hope. Yet it is often difficult for us to see him and to hear his faithful words, "I will be with you." These were words that Moses had trouble hearing and trusting too. His life before

the burning bush had been strange and messy. Nothing about his life made it obvious that God would choose him to lead his people out of slavery to freedom. He was the baby sent down the river in a basket, a Hebrew raised in the palace of the Egyptian king. Moses was a murderer who hid in the desert. If there had been a job opening for hero of the Israelites, Moses would not have had a strong resume to our minds. Moses was an unlikely leader yet God blesses, he embraces, he uses unlikely people. Moses doubted himself. He

doubted God too. He was lost in the desert and the despair of his terrible mistakes and even still God says to him, "Moses, I will be with you" and God will be with you too. God is with you. Your life doesn't need to make sense to you or to others. Your life can be messy and strange and even still God says to you, "I will be with you." Allow these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Allow the burning fire of God's voice to

shine into your darkness by breathing in and saying to your soul, "God is with me" and then also breathing out, pray, meditate and trust saying again, "God is with me." When I say Moses' life was strange and messy, I mean that his life did not move in a nice clear clean straight line. His life's journey had many twists and turns, many layers of confusion and suffering. His mother took a papyrus basket and covered it with tar and pitch so that it would float. She placed Moses as a baby inside and set the basket among the

reeds of the Nile, a wide long river. His mother didn't know where the basket would be found. She sent her daughter to follow it as it floated away. It was the Egyptian king's daughter who drew him out of the water. The Egyptian King, the Pharaoh, had ordered that all Hebrew baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile and it was Pharaoh's daughter who drew him out of the water. That is what Moses's name means: drew him out of the water. How have you been cast into the waters left to drown? How have you been

lost among the reeds, caught in the perilous current of life? How have you been abandoned, thrust out of the safety of home? Jesus says to you, "I will be with you. I have been with you. I will not leave you alone. You are named Moses too. You are the one I draw out of the water. I will draw you out of the pit, out of the miry clay and set your feet upon a rock." You have been in the current of today's dangerous rapid waters. Call out to God for help. Allow him to draw you

up from the sole numbing currents of busyness, rush and self-dependence. As you allow yourself to go to sleep, give yourself to God's care. Become God dependent. In this story of Moses, we have a foreshadowing of what we gain in the waters of baptism. The waters that are meant for death turned out to be instead cleansing healing waters. Yes, our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. Yes, like the Egyptian king, our enemy wants to drown you. He wants you to be covered by the dangerous waters of life. Get through this

danger. Through these very same waters, Jesus meets you. He reaches out to rescue you. He draws you out of death into new life. Allow these waters to wash you, ending a day, giving yourself to sleep, resting in God's love. This is sacred, holy, precious. As you are being washed, you are more and more free to be near God to enjoy his presence to trust in his watchful care. Rest, sleep, believe, allowing these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." See the burning bush of God's presence speaking goodness into your heart.

Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in, saying to your soul, "You are with me" and then also breathing out, pray, meditate and trust saying again, "You are with me." Moses's life had been strange messy and confusing. When he came of age, he began to sort out the things that mattered most to his life. He understood in deeper ways that he was an alien and a stranger in the house of Pharaoh. He was a Hebrew, one of the oppressed. Benefiting from the riches of the oppressor was troubling. How could he enjoy any good thing

when his own people were enslaved, working tirelessly for the brutal king of Egypt? When he saw an Egyptian beating one of his Hebrew brothers one day, he was given a chance to prove his identity as an Israelite. In a fit of rage and vindication, he killed the Egyptian, hid the body in the sand and then fled into the desert to hide from Pharaoh's wrath. Years later, Moses had married, raised a family and was working for his father-in-law Jethro tending sheep on the back side of Mount Horeb. Moses was no doubt content to be removed and

hidden from his previous life as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He had no expectation that God had any special plans for his life. He had no idea that his life was about to change there on the backside of Mount Horeb. This was a wilderness place where God spoke to Moses in a burning bush. You likely have not experienced a literal burning bush, but you have had some kind of burning bush experience. This would be that turning point when you came to accept the truth of God in a way that changed the direction of your life.

This would be a moment when he especially revealed himself through a person, an experience, maybe a worship service, a time when you were serving someone, perhaps a time of prayer or even a powerful sermon. Something shifted inside of you and you haven't been the same since. You might protest here, "But I haven't taken God as seriously as I should. My life hasn't changed that much. I still struggle. I still don't know how to trust God with my life. I continue to resist him each day. I live more through my strength than God's love." Moses protested

too. He said, "Who am I that you would speak to me?" He worried about his weaknesses, "I can't speak for you I stutter when I opened my mouth." Moses would drift away from God too. He would become impatient and angry with the people he was leading. He would continue to struggle with fear and doubt. Even still, God says to Moses, "I will be with you" and God still says to you, "I will be with you." No matter how much doubt or fear that stir inside of you, God still says, "I will be with you." No

matter how much stubbornness and anger, God still says, "I will be with you." Once again, place yourself before the burning bush of God's presence. Rest, sleep, believe these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "My God is with me" and then also breathing out, pray, meditate and trust saying again, "My God is with me." As we bring this meditation to a close, I invite you to consider one more part of Moses' story. God instructs Moses to say to

Pharaoh, "Let my people go." Moses fusses, "But how can I go back? How can I speak for you? Why would the king of Egypt listen to me?" God replies, "Tell Pharaoh that 'I Am' sent you." "I Am," "The Great I Am" is with you. The Great "I Am" sends you. He is the true, true. He is the real, real. God is being behind and before all other things. He is the one by whom everything else in the universe was created. He is the one in whom all things hold together and have their being. "The Great

I Am" says to you tonight, "I Am with you. 'I Am' The Being who will always be with you." In peace, give yourself to sleep. Rest in God's faithfulness for he alone can make you dwell in safety. May the Lord bless you and protect you as you sleep. May his face shine upon you like the radiance of a burning bush. May he be gracious and kind, granting you deep healing sleep. May you be filled with peace. Continue to allow yourself to let go of today by rehearsing in your breathing in and breathing out, "My God

is with me. My God is with me. My God is with me." Amen. God speaks the words for you tonight that he spoke to Moses, "I will be with you." He wants these words to burn bright and clear before you like the fire that burned before Moses. He wants his words to break through your darkness to penetrate deep into your inner being to grow in you confidence and love. God is a blazing fire of goodness, warmth and hope. Yet it is often difficult for us to see him and to hear his faithful words, "I will

be with you." These were words that Moses had trouble hearing and trusting too. His life before the burning bush had been strange and messy. Nothing about his life made it obvious that God would choose him to lead his people out of slavery to freedom. He was the baby sent down the river in a basket, a Hebrew raised in the palace of the Egyptian King. Moses was a murderer who hid in the desert. If there had been a job opening for hero of the Israelites, Moses would not have had a strong resume to our minds. Moses

was an unlikely leader, yet God blesses, he embraces, he uses unlikely people. Moses doubted himself. He doubted God too. He was lost in the desert and the despair of his terrible mistakes and even still God says to him, "Moses I will be with you" and God will be with you too. God is with you. Your life doesn't need to make sense to you or to others. Your life can be messy and strange and even still God says to you, "I will be with you." Allow these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be

with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Allow the burning fire of God's voice to shine into your darkness by breathing in and saying to your soul, "God is with me" and then also breathing out, pray, meditate and trust saying again, "God is with me." When I say Moses's life was strange and messy, I mean that his life did not move in a nice, clear, clean, straight line. His life's journey had many twists and turns, many layers of confusion and suffering. His mother took a papyrus basket and covered it with tar and pitch so

that it would float. She placed Moses as a baby inside and set the basket among the reeds of the Nile, a wide long river. His mother didn't know where the basket would be found. She sent her daughter to follow it as it floated away. It was the Egyptian king's daughter who drew him out of the water. The Egyptian King, the Pharaoh, had ordered that all Hebrew baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile and it was Pharaoh's daughter who drew him out of the water. That is what Moses's name means: drew him out of

the water. How have you been cast into the waters left to drown? How have you been lost among the reeds, caught in the perilous current of life? How have you been abandoned, thrust out of the safety of home? Jesus says to you, "I will be with you. I have been with you. I will not leave you alone. You are named Moses too. You are the one I draw out of the water. I will draw you out of the pit out of the miry clay and set your feet upon a rock." You have been in the

current of today's dangerous rapid waters. Call out to God for help. Allow him to draw you up from the sole numbing currents of busyness, rush and self-dependence. As you allow yourself to go to sleep, give yourself to God's care. Become God dependent. In this story of Moses, we have a foreshadowing of what we gain in the waters of baptism, the waters that are meant for death turn out to be instead cleansing healing waters. Yes our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. Yes like the Egyptian king, our enemy wants to

drown you. He wants you to be covered by the dangerous waters of life. Get through this danger. Through these very same waters, Jesus meets you. He reaches out to rescue you. He draws you out of death into new life. Allow these waters to wash you, ending a day, giving yourself to sleep, resting in God's love. This is sacred, holy, precious. As you are being washed, you are more and more free to be near God to enjoy his presence, to trust in his watchful care. Rest, sleep, believe, allowing these words deeper into your heart and mind,

"I will be with you." See the burning bush of God's presence speaking goodness into your heart. Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "You are with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate, and trust saying again, "You are with me." Moses's life had been strange, messy and confusing. When he came of age, he began to sort out the things that mattered most to his life. He understood in deeper ways that he was an alien and a stranger in the house of Pharaoh. He was a Hebrew, one of the

oppressed. Benefiting from the riches of the oppressor was troubling. How could he enjoy any good thing when his own people were enslaved, working tirelessly for the brutal king of Egypt? When he saw an Egyptian beating one of his Hebrew brothers one day, he was given a chance to prove his identity as an Israelite. In a fit of rage and vindication, he killed the Egyptian, hid the body in the sand and then fled into the desert to hide from Pharaoh's wrath. Years later, Moses had married, raised a family and was working for his father-in-law Jethro tending

sheep on the back side of Mount Horeb. Moses was no doubt content to be removed and hidden from his previous life as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He had no expectation that God had any special plans for his life. He had no idea that his life was about to change there on the backside of Mount Horeb. This was a wilderness place where God spoke to Moses in a burning bush. You likely have not experienced a literal burning bush, but you have had some kind of burning bush experience. This would be that turning point when you

came to accept the truth of God in a way that changed the direction of your life. This would be a moment when he especially revealed himself through a person, an experience, maybe a worship service, a time when you were serving someone, perhaps a time of prayer or even a powerful sermon. Something shifted inside of you and you haven't been the same since. You might protest here, "But I haven't taken God as seriously as I should. My life hasn't changed that much. I still struggle. I still don't know how to trust God with my life. I

continue to resist him. Each day I live more through my strength than God's love." Moses protested too. He said, "Who am I that you would speak to me?" He worried about his weaknesses, "I can't speak for you, I stutter when I open my mouth." Moses would drift away from God too. He would become impatient and angry with the people he was leading. He would continue to struggle with fear and doubt. Even still, God says to Moses, "I will be with you" and God still says to you, "I will be with you." No matter how much

doubt or fear that stir inside of you, God still says, "I will be with you." No matter how much stubbornness and anger, God still says, "I will be with you." Once again, place yourself before the burning bush of God's presence. Rest, sleep, believe these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "My God is with me" and then also breathing out, pray, meditate and trust saying again, "My God is with me." As we bring this meditation to a close,

I invite you to consider one more part of Moses story. God instructs Moses to say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go." Moses fusses, "But how can I go back? How can I speak for you? Why would the king of Egypt listen to me?" God replies, "Tell Pharaoh that 'I Am' sent you." "I Am," "The Great I Am" is with you. "The Great I Am" sends you. He is the true, true. He is the real, real. God is being behind and before all other things. He is the one by whom everything else in the universe was

created. He is the one in whom all things hold together and have their being. "The Great I Am" says to you tonight, "I Am with you. 'I Am' The Being who will always be with you." In peace, give yourself to sleep. Rest in God's faithfulness for he alone can make you dwell in safety. May the Lord bless you and protect you as you sleep. May his face shine upon you like the radiance of a burning bush. May he be gracious and kind granting you deep healing sleep. May you be filled with peace. Continue to allow

yourself to let go of today by rehearsing in your breathing in, and breathing out, "My God is with me. My God is with me. My God is with me." Amen. God speaks the words for you tonight that he spoke to Moses, "I will be with you." He wants these words to burn bright and clear before you like the fire that burned before Moses. He wants his words to break through your darkness to penetrate deep into your inner being to grow in you confidence and love. God is a blazing fire of goodness, warmth and hope. Yet

it is often difficult for us to see him and to hear his faithful words, "I will be with you." These were words that Moses had trouble hearing and trusting too. His life before the burning bush had been strange and messy nothing about his life made it obvious that God would choose him to lead his people out of slavery to freedom. He was the baby sent down the river in a basket, a Hebrew raised in the palace of the Egyptian King. Moses was a murderer who hid in the desert. If there had been a job opening

for hero of the Israelites, Moses would not have had a strong resume to our minds. Moses was an unlikely leader yet God blesses, he embraces, he uses unlikely people. Moses doubted himself. He doubted God too. He was lost in the desert and the despair of his terrible mistakes and even still, God says to him, "Moses, I will be with you" and God will be with you too. God is with you. Your life doesn't need to make sense to you or to others. Your life can be messy and strange and even still God says to you,

"I will be with you." Allow these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Allow the burning fire of God's voice to shine into your darkness by breathing in and saying to your soul, "God is with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "God is with me." When I say Moses's life was strange and messy, I mean that his life did not move in a nice, clear, clean, straight line. His life's journey had many twists and turns, many layers of

confusion and suffering. His mother took a papyrus basket and covered it with tar and pitch so that it would float. She placed Moses as a baby inside and set the basket among the reeds of the Nile, a wide long river. His mother didn't know where the basket would be found. She sent her daughter to follow it as it floated away. It was the Egyptian king's daughter who drew him out of the water. The Egyptian king, the Pharaoh, had ordered that all Hebrew baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile and it was Pharaoh's daughter

who drew him out of the water. That is what Moses's name means: drew him out of the water. How have you been cast into the waters left to drown? How have you been lost among the reeds, caught in the perilous current of life? How have you been abandoned, thrust out of the safety of home? Jesus says to you, "I will be with you. I have been with you. I would not leave you alone. You are named Moses too. You are the one I draw out of the water. I will draw you out of the pit

out of the miry clay and set your feet upon a rock." You have been in the current of today's dangerous rapid waters. Call out to God for help. Allow him to draw you up from the sole numbing currents of busyness, rush and self dependence. As you allow yourself to go to sleep, give yourself to God's care. Become God dependent. In this story of Moses, we have a foreshadowing of what we gain in the waters of baptism, the waters that are meant for death turn out to be instead cleansing healing waters. Yes, our enemy prowls around

like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. Yes like the Egyptian king, our enemy wants to drown you. He wants you to be covered by the dangerous waters of life. Get through this danger. Through these very same waters, Jesus meets you. He reaches out to rescue you. He draws you out of death into new life. Allow these waters to wash you, ending a day giving yourself to sleep, resting in God's love. This is sacred, holy, precious. As you are being washed, you are more and more free to be near God to enjoy his presence

to trust in his watchful care. Rest, sleep, believe, allowing these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." See the burning bush of God's presence speaking goodness into your heart. Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "You are with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "You are with me." Moses's life had been strange, messy and confusing. When he came of age, he began to sort out the things that mattered most to his life. He understood in deeper ways that he

was an alien and a stranger in the house of Pharaoh. He was a Hebrew, one of the oppressed. Benefiting from the riches of the oppressor was troubling. How could he enjoy any good thing when his own people were enslaved, working tirelessly for the brutal king of Egypt? When he saw an Egyptian beating one of his Hebrew brothers one day, he was given a chance to prove his identity as an Israelite. In a fit of rage and vindication, he killed the Egyptian, hid the body in the sand and then fled into the desert to hide from

Pharaoh's wrath. Years later, Moses had married, raised a family and was working for his father-in-law Jethro tending sheep on the backside of Mount Horeb. Moses was no doubt content to be removed and hidden from his previous life as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He had no expectation that God had any special plans for his life. He had no idea that his life was about to change there on the backside of Mount Horeb. This was a wilderness place where God spoke to Moses in a burning bush. You likely have not experienced a literal burning bush, but

you have had some kind of burning bush experience. This would be that turning point when you came to accept the truth of God in a way that changed the direction of your life. This would be a moment when he especially revealed himself through a person, an experience, maybe a worship service, a time when you were serving someone, perhaps a time of prayer or even a powerful sermon. Something shifted inside of you and you haven't been the same since. You might protest here, "But I haven't taken God as seriously as I should. My life hasn't changed

that much. I still struggle. I still don't know how to trust God with my life. I continue to resist him. Each day I live more through my strength than God's love." Moses protested too. He said, "Who am I that you would speak to me?" He worried about his weaknesses, "I can't speak for you, I stutter when I open my mouth." Moses would drift away from God too. He would become impatient and angry with the people he was leading. He would continue to struggle with fear and doubt. Even still, God says to Moses, "I will be

with you" and God still says to you, "I will be with you. " No matter how much doubt or fear that stir inside of you, God still says, "I will be with you." No matter how much stubbornness and anger, God still says, "I will be with you." Once again, place yourself before the burning bush of God's presence. Rest, sleep, believe these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "My god is with me" and then also breathing out pray,

meditate and trust saying again, "My God is with me." As we bring this meditation to a close, I invite you to consider one more part of Moses story. God instructs Moses to say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go." Moses fusses, "But how can I go back? how How can I speak for you? Why would the king of Egypt listen to me?" God replies, "Tell Pharaoh that 'I Am' sent you. "I Am," "The Great I Am" is with you. "The Great I Am" sends you. He is the true, true. He is the real, real. God is

being behind and before all other things. He is the one by whom everything else in the universe was created. He is the one in whom all things hold together and have their being. "The Great I Am" says to you tonight, "I Am with you. 'I Am' The Being who will always be with you." In peace give yourself to sleep. Rest in God's faithfulness for he alone can make you dwell in safety. May the Lord bless you and protect you as you sleep. May his face shine upon you like the radiance of a burning bush. May

he be gracious and kind, granting you deep healing sleep. May you be filled with peace. Continue to allow yourself to let go of today by rehearsing in your breathing in and breathing out, "My God is with me. My God is with me. My God is with me." Amen. God speaks the words for you tonight that he spoke to Moses, "I will be with you." He wants these words to burn bright and clear before you like the fire that burned before Moses. He wants his words to break through your darkness to penetrate deep into your inner

being to grow in you confidence and love. God is a blazing fire of goodness warmth and hope. Yet it is often difficult for us to see him and to hear his faithful words, "I will be with you." These were words that Moses had trouble hearing and trusting too. His life before the burning bush had been strange and messy. Nothing about his life made it obvious that God would choose him to lead his people out of slavery to freedom. He was the baby sent down the river in a basket, a Hebrew raised in the palace of

the Egyptian king. Moses was a murderer who hid in the desert. If there had been a job opening for hero of the Israelites, Moses would not have had a strong resume to our minds. Moses was an unlikely leader yet God blesses, he embraces, he uses unlikely people. Moses doubted himself. He doubted God too. He was lost in the desert and the despair of his terrible mistakes and even still God says to him, "Moses, I will be with you" and God will be with you too. God is with you. Your life doesn't need to make sense

to you or to others. Your life can be messy and strange and even still God says to you, "I will be with you." Allow these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Allow the burning fire of God's voice to shine into your darkness by breathing in and saying to your soul, "God is with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "God is with me." When I say Moses's life was strange and messy, I mean that his life did not

move in a nice clear clean straight line. His life's journey had many twists and turns, many layers of confusion and suffering. His mother took a papyrus basket and covered it with tar and pitch so that it would float. She placed Moses as a baby inside and set the basket among the reeds of the Nile, a wide long river. His mother didn't know where the basket would be found. She sent her daughter to follow it as it floated away. It was the Egyptian king's daughter who drew him out of the water. The Egyptian King, the Pharaoh,

had ordered that all Hebrew baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile and it was Pharaoh's daughter who drew him out of the water. That is what Moses's name means: drew him out of the water. How have you been cast into the waters left to drown? How have you been lost among the reeds, caught in the perilous current of life? How have you been abandoned, thrust out of the safety of home? Jesus says to you, "I will be with you. I have been with you. I will not leave you alone. You are named Moses

too. You are the one I draw out of the water. I will draw you out of the pit out of the miry clay and set your feet upon a rock." You have been in the current of today's dangerous rapid waters. Call out to God for help. Allow him to draw you up from the soul numbing currents of busyness, rush and self dependence. As you allow yourself to go to sleep, give yourself to God's care. Become God dependent. In this story of Moses, we have a foreshadowing of what we gain in the waters of baptism, the

waters that are meant for death turn out to be instead cleansing healing waters. Yes, our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. Yes like the Egyptian king, our enemy wants to drown you he wants you to be covered by the dangerous waters of life. Get through this danger. Through these very same waters, Jesus meets you. He reaches out to rescue you. He draws you out of death into new life. Allow these waters to wash you, ending a day giving yourself to sleep, resting in God's love. This is sacred, holy, precious.

As you are being washed, you are more and more free to be near God to enjoy his presence to trust in his watchful care. Rest, sleep, believe allowing these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." See the burning bush of God's presence speaking goodness into your heart. Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "You are with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "You are with me." Moses's life had been strange, messy and confusing. When he came of age, he

began to sort out the things that mattered most to his life. He understood in deeper ways that he was an alien and a stranger in the house of Pharaoh. He was a Hebrew, one of the oppressed. Benefiting from the riches of the oppressor was troubling. How could he enjoy any good thing when his own people were enslaved, working tirelessly for the brutal king of Egypt? When he saw an Egyptian beating one of his Hebrew brothers one day, he was given a chance to prove his identity as an Israelite. In a fit of rage and vindication,

he killed the Egyptian, hid the body in the sand and then fled into the desert to hide from Pharaoh's wrath. Years later, Moses had married, raised a family and was working for his father-in-law Jethro tending sheep on the backside of Mount Horeb. Moses was no doubt content to be removed and hidden from his previous life as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He had no expectation that God had any special plans for his life. He had no idea that his life was about to change there on the backside of Mount Horeb. This was a wilderness place

where God spoke to Moses in a burning bush. You likely have not experienced a literal burning bush, but you have had some kind of burning bush experience. This would be that turning point when you came to accept the truth of God in a way that changed the direction of your life. This would be a moment when he especially revealed himself through a person, an experience, maybe a worship service, a time when you were serving someone, perhaps a time of prayer or even a powerful sermon. Something shifted inside of you and you haven't been the same

since. You might protest here, "But I haven't taken God as seriously as I should. My life hasn't changed that much. I still struggle. I still don't know how to trust God with my life. I continue to resist him. Each day I live more through my strength than God's love." Moses protested too. He said, "Who am I that you would speak to me?" He worried about his weaknesses, "I can't speak for you, I stutter when I open my mouth." Moses would drift away from God too. He would become impatient and angry with the people he was

leading. He would continue to struggle with fear and doubt. Even still, God says to Moses, "I will be with you" and God still says to you, "I will be with you." No matter how much doubt or fear that stir inside of you, God still says, "I will be with you." No matter how much stubbornness and anger God still says, "I will be with you." Once again place yourself before the burning bush of God's presence. Rest, sleep, believe these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your

breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "My God is with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "My God is with me." As we bring this meditation to a close, I invite you to consider one more part of Moses story. God instructs Moses to say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go." Moses fusses, "But how can I go back? How can I speak for you? Why would the king of Egypt listen to me?" God replies, "Tell Pharaoh that 'I Am' sent you. "I Am, "The Great I Am" is with you. "The

Great I Am" sends you. He is the true, true. He is the real, real. God is being behind and before all other things. He is the one by whom everything else in the universe was created. He is the one in whom all things hold together and have their being. "The Great I Am" says to you tonight, "I Am with you. 'I Am' The Being who will always be with you." In peace give yourself to sleep. Rest in God's faithfulness for he alone can make you dwell in safety. May the Lord bless you and protect you

as you sleep. May his face shine upon you like the radiance of a burning bush. May he be gracious and kind granting you deep healing sleep. May you be filled with peace. Continue to allow yourself to let go of today by rehearsing in your breathing in and breathing out, "My God is with me. My God is with me. My God is with me." Amen. God speaks the words for you tonight that he spoke to Moses, "I will be with you." He wants these words to burn bright and clear before you like the fire that burned

before Moses. He wants his words to break through your darkness to penetrate deep into your inner being to grow a new confidence and love. God is a blazing fire of goodness, warmth and hope. Yet it is often difficult for us to see him and to hear his faithful words, "I will be with you." These were words that Moses had trouble hearing and trusting too. His life before the burning bush had been strange and messy. Nothing about his life made it obvious that God would choose him to lead his people out of slavery to freedom. He

was the baby sent down the river in a basket, a Hebrew raised in the palace of the Egyptian King. Moses was a murderer who hid in the desert . If there had been a job opening for hero of the Israelites, Moses would not have had a strong resume to our minds. Moses was an unlikely leader yet God blesses, he embraces, he uses unlikely people. Moses doubted himself. He doubted God too. He was lost in the desert and the despair of his terrible mistakes and even still God says to him, "Moses, I will be with you"

and God will be with you too. God is with you. Your life doesn't need to make sense to you or to others. Your life can be messy and strange and even still God says to you, "I will be with you." Allow these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Allow the burning fire of God's voice to shine into your darkness by breathing in and saying to your soul, "God is with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate in trust saying again, "God is

with me." When I say Moses's life was strange and messy, I mean that his life did not move in a nice clear clean straight line. His life's journey had many twists and turns, many layers of confusion and suffering. His mother took a papyrus basket and covered it with tar and pitch so that it would float. She placed Moses as a baby inside and set the basket among the reeds of the Nile, a wide long river. His mother didn't know where the basket would be found. She sent her daughter to follow it as it floated away.

It was the Egyptian king's daughter who drew him out of the water. The Egyptian King, the Pharaoh, had ordered that all Hebrew baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile and it was Pharaoh's daughter who drew him out of the water. That is what Moses's name means: drew him out of the water. How have you been cast into the waters left to drown? How have you been lost among the reeds, caught in the perilous current of life? How have you been abandoned, thrust out of the safety of home? Jesus says to you, "I will

be with you. I have been with you. I will not leave you alone. You are named Moses too. You are the one I draw out of the water. I will draw you out of the pit out of the miry clay and set your feet upon a rock." You have been in the current of today's dangerous rapid waters. Call out to God for help. Allow him to draw you up from the soul numbing currents of busyness rush and self dependence. As you allow yourself to go to sleep, give yourself to God's care. Become God dependent. In

this story of Moses, we have a foreshadowing of what we gain in the waters of baptism, the waters that are meant for death turn out to be instead cleansing healing waters. Yes, our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. Yes, like the Egyptian king, our enemy wants to drown you he wants you to be covered by the dangerous waters of life. Get through this danger. Through these very same waters, Jesus meets you. He reaches out to rescue you he draws you out of death into new life. Allow these waters to

wash you, ending a day giving yourself to sleep, resting in God's love. This is sacred, holy, precious. As you are being washed, you are more and more free to be near God to enjoy his presence to trust in his watchful care. Rest sleep, believe allowing these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." See the burning bush of God's presence speaking goodness into your heart. Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "You are with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again,

"You are with me." Moses's life had been strange, messy and confusing. When he came of age, he began to sort out the things that mattered most to his life. He understood in deeper ways that he was an alien and a stranger in the house of Pharaoh. He was a Hebrew, one of the oppressed. Benefiting from the riches of the oppressor was troubling. How could he enjoy any good thing when his own people were enslaved, working tirelessly for the brutal king of Egypt? When he saw an Egyptian beating one of his Hebrew brothers one day, he

was given a chance to prove his identity as an Israelite. In a fit of rage and vindication, he killed the Egyptian, hid the body in the sand and then fled into the desert to hide from Pharaoh's wrath. Years later, Moses had married, raised a family and was working for his father-in-law Jethro tending sheep on the backside of Mount Horeb. Moses was no doubt content to be removed and hidden from his previous life as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He had no expectation that God had any special plans for his life. He had no idea that

his life was about to change there on the backside of Mount Horeb. This was a wilderness place where God spoke to Moses and a burning bush. You likely have not experienced a literal burning bush, but you have had some kind of burning bush experience. This would be that turning point when you came to accept the truth of God in a way that changed the direction of your life. This would be a moment when he especially revealed himself through a person, an experience, maybe a worship service, a time when you were serving someone, perhaps a time

of prayer or even a powerful sermon. Something shifted inside of you and you haven't been the same since. You might protest here, "But I haven't taken God as seriously as I should. My life hasn't changed that much. I still struggle. I still don't know how to trust God with my life. I continue to resist him. Each day I live more through my strength than God's love. Moses protested too. He said, "Who am I that you would speak to me?" He worried about his weaknesses, "I can't speak for you, I stutter when I open my mouth."

Moses would drift away from God too. He would become impatient and angry with the people he was leading. He would continue to struggle with fear and doubt. Even still God says to Moses, "I will be with you" and God still says to you, "I will be with you." No matter how much doubt or fear that stir inside of you, God still says, "I will be with you." No matter how much stubbornness and anger, God still says, "I will be with you." Once again place yourself before the burning bush of God's presence. Rest, sleep, believe these

words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "my God is with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "my God is with me." As we bring this meditation to a close, I invite you to consider one more part of Moses's story. God instructs Moses to say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go." Moses fusses, "But how can I go back? How can I speak for you? Why would the king of Egypt listen to me?" God

replies, "Tell Pharaoh that 'I Am' sent you. "I Am," "The Great I Am" is with you. "The great I Am" sends you. He is the true, true. He is the real, real. God is being behind and before all other things. He is the one by whom everything else in the universe was created. He is the one in whom all things hold together and have their being. "The Great I Am" says to you tonight, "I Am with you. 'I Am' The Being who will always be with you." In peace give yourself to sleep. Rest in God's

faithfulness for he alone can make you dwell in safety. May the Lord bless you and protect you as you sleep. May his face shine upon you like the radiance of a burning bush. May he be gracious and kind granting you deep healing sleep. May you be filled with peace. Continue to allow yourself to let go of today by rehearsing in your breathing in and breathing out, "My God is with me. My God is with me. My God is with me." Amen. When God revealed himself to Moses in a burning bush, the place was holy sacred

ground. So God asked Moses to take off his shoes. Here tonight after you have taken off your shoes and as you turn to sleep, I invite you to also take off your burdens. Set them aside, trusting that where you are right now God is with you and where God is this is holy ground too. So close your eyes. Allow peace into every part of your body. Slow your breath. Breathe in goodness and trust. Exhale, letting go of anxious thoughts. Breathe in peace and love and then breathe out the day's troubles. As you settle into a

good night of sleep, I invite you to acknowledge the nearness of God. No matter how close or distant you have been to Jesus today, turn back into his presence and sink into his love. Father God, as I finish this day, I trust that you desire my company even while I am sleeping. Even while I sleep, you can heal my hurts. Even while I sleep, you can restore my exhausted mind and body. Even while I sleep, you can reveal your love to me and fill me with grace and mercy. As I have taken off my shoes

for bed, I take off my burdens and hand them to you. I rest knowing that those things that are still unfinished today, I trust you will help me with these things tomorrow. God speaks the words for you tonight that he spoke to Moses, "I will be with you." He wants these words to burn bright and clear before you like the fire that burned before Moses. He wants his words to break through your darkness to penetrate deep into your inner being to grow in you confidence and love. God is a blazing fire of goodness, warmth and

hope. Yet it is often difficult for us to see him and to hear his faithful words, "I will be with you." These were words that Moses had trouble hearing and trusting too. His life before the burning bush had been strange and messy. Nothing about his life made it obvious that God would choose him to lead his people out of slavery to freedom. He was the baby sent down the river in a basket, a Hebrew raised in the palace of the Egyptian King. Moses was a murderer who hid in the desert. If there had been a

job opening for hero of the Israelites, Moses would not have had a strong resume to our minds. Moses was an unlikely leader, yet God blesses, he embraces, he uses unlikely people. Moses doubted himself. He doubted God too. He was lost in the desert and the despair of his terrible mistakes and even still, God says to him, "Moses, I will be with you" and God will be with you too. God is with you. Your life doesn't need to make sense to you or to others. Your life can be messy and strange and even still God says

to you, "I will be with you." Allow these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Allow the burning fire of God's voice to shine into your darkness by breathing in in saying to your soul, "God is with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "God is with me." When I say Moses's life was strange and messy, I mean that his life did not move in a nice clear clean straight line. His life's journey had many twists and turns, many

layers of confusion and suffering. His mother took a papyrus basket and covered it with tar and pitch so that it would float. She placed Moses as a baby inside and set the basket among the reeds of the Nile, a wide long river. His mother didn't know where the basket would be found. She sent her daughter to follow it as it floated away. It was the Egyptian king's daughter who drew him out of the water. The Egyptian King, the Pharaoh, had ordered that all Hebrew baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile and it was

Pharaoh's daughter who drew him out of the water. That is what Moses's name means: drew him out of the water. How have you been cast into the waters left to drown? How have you been lost among the reeds, caught in the perilous current of life? How have you been abandoned, thrust out of the safety of home? Jesus says to you, "I will be with you. I have been with you. I will not leave you alone. You are named Moses too. You are the one I draw out of the water I will draw you out of

the pit out of the miry clay and set your feet upon a rock." You have been in the current of today's dangerous rapid waters. Call out to God for help. Allow him to draw you up from the soul numbing currents of busyness, rush and self dependence. As you allow yourself to go to sleep, give yourself to God's care. Become God dependent. In this story of Moses, we have a foreshadowing of what we gain in the waters of baptism, the waters that are meant for death turned out to be instead cleansing healing waters. Yes, our enemy

prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. Yes, like the Egyptian king, our enemy wants to drown you. He wants you to be covered by the dangerous waters of life. Get through this danger. Through these very same waters, Jesus meets you. He reaches out to rescue you. He draws you out of death into new life. Allow these waters to wash you, ending a day giving yourself to sleep, resting in God's love. This is sacred, holy, precious. As you are being washed, you are more and more free to be near God to enjoy

his presence, to trust in his watchful care. Rest, sleep, believe, allowing these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." See the burning bush of God's presence speaking goodness into your heart. Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "You are with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "You are with me." Moses's life had been strange, messy and confusing. When he came of age, he began to sort out the things that mattered most to his life. He understood in deeper ways

that he was an alien and a stranger in the house of Pharaoh. He was a Hebrew, one of the oppressed. Benefiting from the riches of the oppressor was troubling. How could he enjoy any good thing when his own people were enslaved, working tirelessly for the brutal king of Egypt? When he saw an Egyptian beating one of his Hebrew brothers one day, he was given a chance to prove his identity as an Israelite. In a fit of rage and vindication, he killed the Egyptian, hid the body in the sand and then fled into the desert to

hide from Pharaoh's wrath. Years later, Moses had married, raised a family and was working for his father-in-law Jethro tending sheep on the back side of Mount Horeb. Moses was no doubt content to be removed and hidden from his previous life as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He had no expectation that God had any special plans for his life. He had no idea that his life was about to change there on the backside of Mount Horeb. This was a wilderness place where God spoke to Moses in a burning bush. You likely have not experienced a literal

burning bush, but you have had some kind of burning bush experience. This would be that turning point when you came to accept the truth of God in a way that changed the direction of your life. This would be a moment when he especially revealed himself through a person, an experience, maybe a worship service, a time when you were serving someone, perhaps a time of prayer or even a powerful sermon. Something shifted inside of you and you haven't been the same since. You might protest here, "But I haven't taken God as seriously as I should. My

life hasn't changed that much. I still struggle. I still don't know how to trust God with my life. I continue to resist him. Each day I live more through my strength than God's love." Moses protested too. He said, "Who am I that you would speak to me?" He worried about his weaknesses, "I can't speak for you, I stutter when I open my mouth." Moses would drift away from God too. He would become impatient and angry with the people he was leading. He would continue to struggle with fear and doubt. Even still, God says to Moses,

"I will be with you" and God still says to you, "I will be with you." No matter how much doubt or fear that stir inside of you, God still says, "I will be with you." No matter how much stubbornness and anger, God still says, "I will be with you." Once again, place yourself before the burning bush of God's presence, rest, sleep, believe these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "My God is with me" and then also breathing

out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "my God is with me." As we bring this meditation to a close, I invite you to consider one more part of Moses's story. God instructs Moses to say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go." Moses fusses, "But how can I go back? How can I speak for you? Why would the king of Egypt listen to me?" God replies, "tell Pharaoh that 'I Am' sent you. "I Am," "The Great I Am" is with you. "The Great I Am" sends you. He is the true, true. He is the real, real. God

is being behind and before all other things. He is the one by whom everything else in the universe was created. He is the one in whom all things hold together and have their being. "The great I Am" says to you tonight, "I Am with you. 'I Am' The Being who will always be with you." In peace give yourself to sleep. Rest and God's faithfulness for he alone can make you dwell in safety. May the Lord bless you and protect you as you sleep. May his face shine upon you like the radiance of a burning bush.

May he be gracious and kind granting you deep healing sleep. May you be filled with peace. Continue to allow yourself to let go of today by rehearsing in your breathing in and breathing out, "My God is with me. My God is with me. My God is with me." Amen. God speaks the words for you tonight that he spoke to Moses, "I will be with you." He wants these words to burn bright and clear before you like the fire that burned before Moses. He wants his words to break through your darkness to penetrate deep into your

inner being to grow in you confidence and love. God is a blazing fire of goodness, warmth and hope. Yet it is often difficult for us to see him and to hear his faithful words, "I will be with you." These were words that Moses had trouble hearing and trusting too. His life before the burning bush had been strange and messy. Nothing about his life made it obvious that God would choose him to lead his people out of slavery to freedom. He was the baby sent down the river in a basket, a Hebrew raised in the palace

of the Egyptian King. Moses was a murderer who hid in the desert. If there had been a job opening for hero of the Israelites, Moses would not have had a strong resume to our minds. Moses was an unlikely leader yet God blesses, he embraces, he uses unlikely people. Moses doubted himself. He doubted God too. He was lost in the desert and the despair of his terrible mistakes and even still God says to him, "Moses, I will be with you" and God will be with you too. God is with you. Your life doesn't need to make

sense to you or to others. Your life can be messy and strange and even still God says to you, "I will be with you." Allow these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Allow the burning fire of God's voice to shine into your darkness by breathing in in saying to your soul, "God is with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "God is with me." When I say Moses's life was strange and messy, I mean that his life did

not move in a nice clear clean straight line. His life's journey had many twists and turns, many layers of confusion and suffering. His mother took a papyrus basket and covered it with tar and pitch so that it would float. She placed Moses as a baby inside and set the basket among the reeds of the Nile, a wide long river. His mother didn't know where the basket would be found., She sent her daughter to follow it as it floated away. It was the Egyptian king's daughter who drew him out of the water. The Egyptian king, the

Pharaoh, had ordered that all Hebrew baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile and it was Pharaoh's daughter who drew him out of the water. That is what Moses's name means: drew him out of the water. How have you been cast into the waters left to drown? How have you been lost among the reeds, caught in the perilous current of life? How have you been abandoned thrust out of the safety of home? Jesus says to you, "I will be with you. I have been with you. I will not leave you alone. You are named

Moses too. You are the one I draw out of the water I will draw you out of the pit out of the miry clay and set your feet upon a rock." You have been in the current of today's dangerous rapid waters. Call out to God for help. Allow him to draw you up from the soul numbing currents of busyness, rush and self dependence. As you allow yourself to go to sleep, give yourself to God's care. Become God dependent. In this story of Moses we have a foreshadowing of what we gain in the waters of baptism,

the waters that are meant for death turn out to be instead cleansing healing waters. Yes, our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. Yes, like the Egyptian king, our enemy wants to drown you he wants you to be covered by the dangerous waters of life. Get through this danger. Through these very same waters, Jesus meets you. He reaches out to rescue you he draws you out of death into new life. Allow these waters to wash you, ending a day giving yourself to sleep, resting in God's love. This is sacred, holy,

precious. As you are being washed, you are more and more free to be near God to enjoy his presence to trust in his watchful care. Rest, sleep, believe allowing these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." See the burning bush of God's presence speaking goodness into your heart. Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "You are with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "You are with me." Moses's life had been strange, messy and confusing. When he came of age,

he began to sort out the things that mattered most to his life. He understood in deeper ways that he was an alien and a stranger in the house of Pharaoh. He was a Hebrew, one of the oppressed. Benefiting from the riches of the oppressor was troubling. How could he enjoy any good thing when his own people were enslaved, working tirelessly for the brutal king of Egypt? When he saw an Egyptian beating one of his Hebrew brothers one day, he was given a chance to prove his identity as an Israelite. In a fit of rage and

vindication, he killed the Egyptian, hid the body in the sand and then fled into the desert to hide from Pharaoh's wrath. Years later, Moses had married, raised a family and was working for his father-in-law Jethro tending sheep on the backside of Mount Horeb. Moses was no doubt content to be removed and hidden from his previous life as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He had no expectation that God had any special plans for his life. He had no idea that his life was about to change there on the backside of Mount Horeb. This was a wilderness

place where God spoke to Moses in a burning bush. You likely have not experienced a literal burning bush, but you have had some kind of burning bush experience. This would be that turning point when you came to accept the truth of God in a way that changed the direction of your life. This would be a moment when he especially revealed himself through a person, an experience, maybe a worship service, a time when you were serving someone, perhaps a time of prayer or even a powerful sermon. Something shifted inside of you and you haven't been the

same since. You might protest here, "But I haven't taken God as seriously as I should. My life hasn't changed that much. I still struggle. I still don't know how to trust God with my life. I continue to resist him. Each day I live more through my strength than God's love." Moses protested too. He said, "Who am I that you would speak to me?" He worried about his weaknesses, "I can't speak for you. I stutter when I open my mouth." Moses would drift away from God too. He would become impatient and angry with the people he

was leading. He would continue to struggle with fear and doubt. Even still, God says to Moses, "I will be with you" and God still says to you. "I will be with you." No matter how much doubt or fear that stir inside of you, God still says, "I will be with you." No matter how much stubbornness and anger, God still says, "I will be with you." Once again, place yourself before the burning bush of God's presence. Rest, sleep, believe these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in

your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "My God is with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "My God is with me." As we bring this meditation to a close, I invite you to consider one more part of Moses story. God instructs Moses to say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go." Moses fusses, "But how can I go back? How can I speak for you? Why would the king of Egypt listen to me?" God replies, "tell Pharaoh that 'I Am' sent you. "I Am," "The Great I Am" is with you.

"The Great I Am" sends you. He is the true, true. He is the real, real. God is being behind and before all other things. He is the one by whom everything else in the universe was created. He is the one in whom all things hold together and have their being. "The Great I Am" says to you tonight, "I Am with you. 'I Am' The Being who will always be with you." In peace give yourself to sleep. Rest and God's faithfulness for he alone can make you dwell in safety. May the Lord bless you and protect

you as you sleep. May his face shine upon you like the radiance of a burning bush. May he be gracious and kind granting you deep healing sleep. May you be filled with peace. Continue to allow yourself to let go of today by rehearsing in your breathing in and breathing out, "My God is with me. My God is with me. My God is with me." Amen. God speaks the words for you tonight that he spoke to Moses, "I will be with you." He wants these words to burn bright and clear before you like the fire that

burned before Moses. He wants his words to break through your darkness to penetrate deep into your inner being to grow a new confidence and love. God is a blazing fire of goodness, warmth and hope. Yet it is often difficult for us to see him and to hear his faithful words, "I will be with you." These were words that Moses had trouble hearing and trusting too. His life before the burning bush had been strange and messy. Nothing about his life made it obvious that God would choose him to lead his people out of slavery to freedom.

He was the baby sent down the river in a basket, a Hebrew raised in the palace of the Egyptian King. Moses was a murderer who hid in the desert. If there had been a job opening for hero of the Israelites, Moses would not have had a strong resume to our minds. Moses was an unlikely leader yet God blesses, he embraces, he uses unlikely people. Moses doubted himself. He doubted God too. He was lost in the desert and the despair of his terrible mistakes and even still God says to him, "Moses, I will be with you"

and God will be with you too. God is with you. Your life doesn't need to make sense to you or to others. Your life can be messy and strange and even still God says to you, "I will be with you." Allow these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Allow the burning fire of God's voice to shine into your darkness by breathing in and saying to your soul, "God is with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "God is

with me." When I say Moses's life was strange and messy I mean that his life did not move in a nice clear clean straight line. His life's journey had many twists and turns, many layers of confusion and suffering. His mother took a papyrus basket and covered it with tar and pitch so that it would float. She placed Moses as a baby inside and set the basket among the reeds of the Nile, a wide long river. His mother didn't know where the basket would be found. She sent her daughter to follow it as it floated away.

it was the Egyptian king's daughter who drew him out of the water. The Egyptian King, the Pharaoh, had ordered that all Hebrew baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile and it was Pharaoh's daughter who drew him out of the water. That is what Moses's name means: drew him out of the water. How have you been cast into the waters left to drown? How have you been lost among the reeds, caught in the perilous current of life? How have you been abandoned, thrust out of the safety of home? Jesus says to you, "I will

be with you. I have been with you. I will not leave you alone. You are named Moses too. You are the one I draw out of the water I will draw you out of the pit out of the miry clay and set your feet upon a rock." You have been in the current of today's dangerous rapid waters. Call out to God for help. Allow him to draw you up from the sole numbing currents of busyness, rush and self dependence. As you allow yourself to go to sleep, give yourself to God's care. Become God dependent. In

this story of Moses, we have a foreshadowing of what we gain in the waters of baptism, the waters that are meant for death turn out to be instead cleansing healing waters. Yes, our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. Yes, like the Egyptian king, our enemy wants to drown you. He wants you to be covered by the dangerous waters of life. Get through this danger. Through these very same waters, Jesus meets you. He reaches out to rescue you. He draws you out of death into new life. Allow these waters to

wash you, ending a day giving yourself to sleep, resting in God's love. This is sacred, holy, precious. As you are being washed, you are more and more free to be near God to enjoy his presence to trust in his watchful care. Rest, sleep, believe allowing these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." See the burning bush of God's presence speaking goodness into your heart. Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "You are with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again,

"you are with me." Moses's life had been strange messy and confusing. When he came of age, he began to sort out the things that mattered most to his life. He understood in deeper ways that he was an alien and a stranger in the house of Pharaoh. He was a Hebrew, one of the oppressed. Benefiting from the riches of the oppressor was troubling. How could he enjoy any good thing when his own people were enslaved, working tirelessly for the brutal king of Egypt? When he saw an Egyptian beating one of his Hebrew brothers one day, he

was given a chance to prove his identity as an Israelite. In a fit of rage and vindication, he killed the Egyptian, hid the body in the sand and then fled into the desert to hide from Pharaoh's wrath. Years later, Moses had married, raised a family and was working for his father-in-law Jethro tending sheep on the backside of Mount Horeb. Moses was no doubt content to be removed and hidden from his previous life as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He had no expectation that God had any special plans for his life. He had no idea that

his life was about to change there on the backside of Mount Horeb. This was a wilderness place where God spoke to Moses in a burning bush. You likely have not experienced a literal burning bush, but you have had some kind of burning bush experience. This would be that turning point when you came to accept the truth of God in a way that changed the direction of your life. This would be a moment when he especially revealed himself through a person, an experience, maybe a worship service, the time when you were serving someone, perhaps a time

of prayer or even a powerful sermon. Something shifted inside of you and you haven't been the same since. You might protest here, "But I haven't taken God as seriously as I should. My life hasn't changed that much. I still struggle. I still don't know how to trust God with my life. I continue to resist him. Each day I live more through my strength than God's love." Moses protested too. He said, "Who am I that you would speak to me?" He worried about his weaknesses, "I can't speak for you. I stutter when I opened my mouth."

Moses would drift away from God too. He would become impatient and angry with the people he was leading. He would continue to struggle with fear and doubt. Even still, God says to Moses, "I will be with you" and God still says to you, "I will be with you." No matter how much doubt or fear that stir inside of you, God still says, "I will be with you." No matter how much stubbornness and anger, God still says, "I will be with you." Once again, place yourself before the burning bush of God's presence. Rest, sleep, believe these

words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "My God is with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "My God is with me." As we bring this meditation to a close, I invite you to consider one more part of Moses story. God instructs Moses to say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go." Moses fusses, "But how can I go back? How can I speak for you? Why would the king of Egypt listen to me?" God

replies, "tell Pharaoh that 'I Am' sent you. "I Am, "The Great I Am" is with you. "The Great I Am" send you. He is the true, true. He is the real, real. God is being behind and before all other things. He is the one by whom everything else in the universe was created. He is the one in whom all things hold together and have their being. "The Great I Am" says to you tonight, "I Am with you. 'I Am' The Being who will always be with you." In peace, give yourself to sleep. Rest in God's

faithfulness for he alone can make you dwell in safety. May the Lord bless you and protect you as you sleep. May his face shine upon you like the radiance of a burning bush. May he be gracious and kind granting you deep healing sleep. May you be filled with peace. Continue to allow yourself to let go of today by rehearsing in your breathing in and breathing out, "My God is with me. My God is with me. My God is with me." Amen. God speaks the words for you tonight that he spoke to Moses, "I will be

with you." He wants these words to burn bright and clear before you like the fire that burned before Moses. He wants his words to break through your darkness to penetrate deep into your inner being to grow in you confidence and love. God is a blazing fire of goodness, warmth and hope. Yet it is often difficult for us to see him and to hear his faithful words, "I will be with you." These were words that Moses had trouble hearing and trusting too. His life before the burning bush had been strange and messy. Nothing about his life

made it obvious that God would choose him to lead his people out of slavery to freedom. He was the baby sent down the river in a basket, a Hebrew raised in the palace of the Egyptian King. Moses was a murderer who hid in the desert. If there had been a job opening for hero of the Israelites, Moses would not have had a strong resume to our minds. Moses was an unlikely leader yet God blesses, he embraces, he uses unlikely people. Moses doubted himself. He doubted God too he was lost in the desert and the despair

of his terrible mistakes and even still, God says to him, "Moses, I will be with you" and God will be with you too. God is with you. Your life doesn't need to make sense to you or to others. Your life can be messy and strange and even still God says to you, "I will be with you." Allow these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Allow the burning fire of God's voice to shine into your darkness by breathing in and saying to your soul,

"God is with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "God is with me." When I say Moses's life was strange and messy, I mean that his life did not move in a nice clear clean straight line. His life's journey had many twists and turns, many layers of confusion and suffering. His mother took a papyrus basket and covered it with tar and pitch so that it would float. She placed Moses as a baby inside and set the basket among the reeds of the Nile, a wide long river. His mother didn't know

where the basket would be found. She sent her daughter to follow it as it floated away. It was the Egyptian king's daughter who drew him out of the water. The Egyptian King, the Pharaoh, had ordered that all Hebrew baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile and it was Pharaoh's daughter who drew him out of the water. That is what Moses's name means: drew him out of the water. How have you been cast into the waters, left to drown? How have you been lost among the reeds, caught in the perilous current of life. How

have you been abandoned, thrust out of the safety of home? Jesus says to you, "I will be with you. I have been with you. I will not leave you alone. You are named Moses too. You are the one I draw out of the water I will draw you out of the pit out of the miry clay and set your feet upon a rock." You have been in the current of today's dangerous rapid waters. Call out to God for help. Allow him to draw you up from the soul numbing currents of busyness, rush and self dependence.

As you allow yourself to go to sleep, give yourself to God's care. Become God dependent. In this story of Moses, we have a foreshadowing of what we gain in the waters of baptism, the waters that are meant for death turn out to be instead cleansing healing waters. Yes, our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. Yes, like the Egyptian king, our enemy wants to drown you. He wants you to be covered by the dangerous waters of life. Get through this danger. Through these very same waters, Jesus meets you. He reaches

out to rescue you. He draws you out of death into new life. Allow these waters to wash, ending a day, giving yourself to sleep, resting in God's love. This is sacred, holy, precious. As you are being washed, you are more and more free to be near God to enjoy his presence to trust in his watchful care. Rest, sleep, believe allowing these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." See the burning bush of God's presence speaking goodness into your heart. Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your

soul, "You are with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "You are with me." Moses's life had been strange messy and confusing. When he came of age, he began to sort out the things that mattered most to his life. He understood in deeper ways that he was an alien and a stranger in the house of Pharaoh. He was a Hebrew, one of the oppressed. Benefiting from the riches of the oppressor was troubling. How could he enjoy any good thing when his own people were enslaved, working tirelessly for the brutal king

of Egypt? When he saw an Egyptian beating one of his Hebrew brothers one day, he was given a chance to prove his identity as an Israelite. In a fit of rage and vindication, he killed the Egyptian, hid the body in the sand and then fled into the desert to hide from Pharaoh's wrath. Years later, Moses had married, raised a family and was working for his father-in-law Jethro tending sheep on the backside of Mount Horeb. Moses was no doubt content to be removed and hidden from his previous life as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He had

no expectation that God had any special plans for his life. He had no idea that his life was about to change there on the backside of Mount Horeb. This was a wilderness place where God spoke to Moses in a burning bush. You likely have not experienced a literal burning bush, but you have had some kind of burning bush experience. This would be that turning point when you came to accept the truth of God in a way that changed the direction of your life. This would be a moment when he especially revealed himself through a person,

an experience, maybe a worship service, a time when you were serving someone, perhaps a time of prayer or even a powerful sermon. Something shifted inside of you and you haven't been the same since. You might protest here, "But I haven't taken God as seriously as I should. My life hasn't changed that much. I still struggle. I still don't know how to trust God with my life. I continue to resist him. Each day I live more through my strength than God's love." Moses protested too. He said, "Who am I that you would speak to me?" He

worried about his weaknesses, "I can't speak for you. I stutter when I open my mouth." Moses would drift away from God too. He would become impatient and angry with the people he was leading. He would continue to struggle with fear and doubt. Even still, God says to Moses, "I will be with you" and God still says to you, "I will be with you." No matter how much doubt or fear that stir inside of you, God still says, "I will be with you." No matter how much stubbornness and anger, God still says, "I will be with

you." Once again, place yourself before the burning bush of God's presence. Rest, sleep, believe these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "My God is with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "My God is with me." As we bring this meditation to a close, I invite you to consider one more part of Moses's story. God instructs Moses to say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go." Moses fusses, "But how can I go back?

How can I speak for you? Why would the king of Egypt listen to me?" God replies, "Tell Pharaoh that 'I Am' sent you." "I Am," "The Great I Am" is with you. "The Great I Am" sends you. He is the true, true. He is the real, real. God is being behind and before all other things he is the one by whom everything else in the universe was created. He is the one in whom all things hold together and have their being. "The Great I Am" says to you tonight "I Am with you. 'I Am' The

Being who will always be with you." In peace give yourself to sleep. Rest in God's faithfulness for he alone can make you dwell in safety. May the Lord bless you and protect you as you sleep. May his face shine upon you like the radiance of a burning bush. May he be gracious and kind, granting you deep healing sleep may you be filled with peace. Continue to allow yourself to let go of today by rehearsing in your breathing in and breathing out, "My God is with me. My God is with me. My God is with me."

Amen. God speaks the words for you tonight that he spoke to Moses, "I will be with you." He wants these words to burn bright and clear before you like the fire that burned before Moses. He wants his words to break through your darkness to penetrate deep into your inner being to grow a new confidence and love. God is a blazing fire of goodness, warmth and hope. Yet it is often difficult for us to see him and to hear his faithful words, "I will be with you." These were words that Moses had trouble hearing and trusting

too. His life before the burning bush had been strange and messy. Nothing about his life made it obvious that God would choose him to lead his people out of slavery to freedom. He was the baby sent down the river in a basket, a Hebrew raised in the palace of the Egyptian King. Moses was a murderer who hid in the desert. If there had been a job opening for hero of the Israelites, Moses would not have had a strong resume to our minds. Moses was an unlikely leader yet God blesses, he embraces, he uses unlikely people.

Moses doubted himself. He doubted God too. he was lost in the desert and the despair of his terrible mistakes and even still God says to him, "Moses, I will be with you" and God will be with you too. God is with you. Your life doesn't need to make sense to you or to others. Your life can be messy and strange and even still, God says to you, "I will be with you." Allow these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Allow the burning fire

of God's voice to shine into your darkness by breathing in and saying to your soul, "God is with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "God is with me." When I say Moses's life was strange and messy, I mean that his life did not move in a nice clear clean straight line. His life's journey had many twists and turns, many layers of confusion and suffering. His mother took a papyrus basket and covered it with tar and pitch so that it would float. She placed Moses as a baby inside and set

the basket among the reeds of the Nile, a wide long river. His mother didn't know where the basket would be found. She sent her daughter to follow it as it floated away. It was the Egyptian king's daughter who drew him out of the water. The Egyptian King, the Pharaoh, had ordered that all Hebrew baby boys or to be thrown into the Nile and it was Pharaoh's daughter who drew him out of the water. That is what Moses's name means: drew him out of the water. How have you been cast into the waters, left to drown?

How have you been lost among the reeds, caught in the perilous current of life? How have you been abandoned, thrust out of the safety of home? Jesus says to you, "I will be with you. I have been with you. I will not leave you alone. You are named Moses too. You are the one I draw out of the water I will draw you out of the pit out of the miry clay and set your feet upon a rock." You have been in the current of today's dangerous rapid waters. Call out to God for help. Allow

him to draw you up from the soul numbing currents of busyness, rush and self dependence. As you allow yourself to go to sleep, give yourself to God's care. Become God dependent. In this story of Moses, we have a foreshadowing of what we gain in the waters of baptism, the waters that are meant for death turn out to be instead cleansing healing waters. Yes, our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. Yes, like the Egyptian king, our enemy wants to drown you. He wants you to be covered by the dangerous waters

of life. Get through this danger. Through these very same waters, Jesus meets you. He reaches out to rescue you. He draws you out of death into new life. Allow these waters to wash you, ending a day, giving yourself to sleep, resting in God's love. This is sacred, holy, precious. As you are being washed, you are more and more free to be near God to enjoy his presence to trust in his watchful care. Rest, sleep, believe, allowing these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." See the burning bush of God's presence

speaking goodness into your heart. Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "You are with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate in trust saying again, "You are with me." Moses's life had been strange, messy and confusing. When he came of age, he began to sort out the things that mattered most to his life. He understood in deeper ways that he was an alien and a stranger in the house of Pharaoh. He was a Hebrew, one of the oppressed. Benefiting from the riches of the oppressor was troubling. How could

he enjoy any good thing when his own people were enslaved, working tirelessly for the brutal king of Egypt? When he saw an Egyptian beating one of his Hebrew brothers one day, he was given a chance to prove his identity as an Israelite. In a fit of rage and vindication, he killed the Egyptian, hid the body in the sand and then fled into the desert to hide from Pharaoh's wrath. Years later, Moses had married, raised a family and was working for his father-in-law Jethro tending sheep on the back side of Mount Horeb. Moses was no doubt

content to be removed and hidden from his previous life as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. he had no expectation that God had any special plans for his life. He had no idea that his life was about to change there on the backside of Mount Horeb. This was a wilderness place where God spoke to Moses in a burning bush. You likely have not experienced a literal burning bush, but you have had some kind of burning bush experience. This would be that turning point when you came to accept the truth of God in a way that changed

the direction of your life. This would be a moment when he especially revealed himself through a person, an experience, maybe a worship service, a time when you were serving someone, perhaps a time of prayer or even a powerful sermon. Something shifted inside of you and you haven't been the same since. You might protest here, "But I haven't taken God as seriously as I should. My life hasn't changed that much. I still struggle. I still don't know how to trust God with my life. I continue to resist him. Each day I live more through my strength

than God's love." Moses protested too. He said, "Who am I that you would speak to me?" He worried about his weaknesses, "I can't speak for you. I stutter when I open my mouth." Moses would drift away from God too. He would become impatient and angry with the people he was leading. He would continue to struggle with fear and doubt. Even still, God says to Moses, "I will be with you" and God still says to you "I will be with you." No matter how much doubt or fear that stir inside of you, God still says, "I

will be with you." No matter how much stubbornness and anger, God still says, "I will be with you." Once again, place yourself before the burning bush of God's presence. Rest, sleep, believe these words deeper into your heart and mind, "I will be with you." Rehearse this good news in your breath. Breathing in saying to your soul, "My God is with me" and then also breathing out pray, meditate and trust saying again, "My God is with me." As we bring this meditation to a close, I invite you to consider one more part of Moses's story. God

instructs Moses to say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go." Moses fusses, "But how can I go back? How can I speak for you? Why would the king of Egypt listen to me?" God replies, "Tell Pharaoh that 'I Am' sent you. "I Am, "The Great I Am" is with you. "The Great I Am" sends you. He is the true, true. He is the real, real. God is being behind and before all other things he is the one by whom everything else in the universe was created. He is the one in whom all things hold together and

have their being. "The Great I Am" says to you tonight, "I Am with you. 'I Am' The Being who will always be with you." In peace, give yourself to sleep. Rest in God's faithfulness for he alone can make you dwell in safety. May the Lord bless you and protect you as you sleep may his face shine upon you like the radiance of a burning bush. May he be gracious and kind, granting you deep healing sleep. May you be filled with peace. Continue to allow yourself to let go of today by rehearsing in your breathing in

and breathing out, "My God is with me. My God is with me. My God is with me." Amen. We hope this meditation brought you peace. To listen to the full collection of Biblical bedtime stories, download the Abide app in the iTunes or Google Play