Why the Bush Was Not Consumed

I walked in yesterday to my mom's rehab room to see her fully dressed for the first time since she broke her arm and hip over a week ago. The nurse asked if mom would be wearing the hospital gown again in the evening. I showed her the drawer full of PJs we'd brought and asked if they could help Mom put those on instead. The nurse readily agreed.

Later, Mom told me that what she dislikes most about being in the rehab center is the "dehumanizing" aspect of all institutional settings.
"Yes," I said, "I agree. That's why you must preserve every piece of normalcy you can. Don't wear the hospital gown. Wear your own pajamas. Be sure to get dressed every day. Have them help you put on your lipstick until you are able on your own."

Then we went on to rehab for her first full PT/OT sessions. It was long and exhausting. She glanced at another woman in the room who was just "recategorized" as independent in her room.The woman beamed with delight and pride. It was the last hurdle before being discharged to go home.

"See," the therapist said to Mom, "That is where all this will lead."
Mom looked dubious, as though this newly independent woman was somehow stronger, more determined, or more capable than she.

My Bible study was about Moses and the burning bush and raised a point I had never considered. Was there something special about that particular bush? Of course not!! God could have used any bush to work His miracles. He did not describe the bush as particularly bushy, or thriving, or special in any way. It was just the bush He chose to use.

God chooses the weak, the fumbling, the broken, all the time to demonstrate the inexhaustible extent of His power, mercy, and grace. If God chooses me, or you,  to be the bush which burns and is not consumed, it will not be because we are special. It will be because God is special and His power can not be extinguished.

Take heart, Mom. God can work His wonders in any vessel.
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Exodus 3: 1-3

1Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. 3So Moses said, "I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up."…