Moses was groomed to be an Egyptian prince, but after his grave impulsive mistake, he became all beggarly and quite forsaken, eking out a miserable existence in a strange land, toiling for his father-in-law. For the next forty years, he was to do that which the Egyptians had taught him to despise – herding sheep.
  
Once he was recognised everywhere he went. Back in Egypt mothers would point him out to their children: "There goes Moses!! that's Moses. Be like him !!" But now no one so much as take a second look at him. He had all kinds of credentials from all the education he received but in the desert no one was ever impressed about such things. He is now consigned to a life of obscurity and humiliation. Moses was brought very low indeed. Some of us may be in such a place. We feel we are cut out for something else, but now we are on the sideline of our life. Maybe you’ve built up something, only to see it come crumbling down.

But God had His eyes on Moses, as He has His eyes on you now. One morning as Moses followed his flock, God comes to Moses. And out of the burning bush came a voice: "Moses! Moses! Perhaps he thought he would never hear that voice again.

Now that, is the voice of grace. It is good news for Moses. God is telling him that he may now come out of the sideline, that the time of isolation is now over.

Many people have heard the voice of grace. One man heard it on a park-bench as he  contemplated suicide; one woman heard it sitting by her kitchen table in the depth of her despair; another heard it while sitting in jail doing time, and that transformed him forever; one woman leaving a divorce court where a final settlement was made, returned to her lonely apartment room, knelt down to pray and heard that voice.

Some of you think you've messed up your life forever; you can't see how you can put it all together again. Have you forgotten that God's heart is full of grace? The voice of grace still calls and that voice is calling your name.

But beware, one of the most stubborn obstacle against God's grace reaching you, is you,  holding on to your guilt feelings and refusing to embrace God’s grace. Many of us let our shame and guilt talk to us more often than we let God talk to us. We dwell on our failure more than we dwell on God's forgiveness. Quite often, the last person on earth you will forgive is yourself. But nothing stifles and chokes God’s grace as your feelings of guilt and shame. They block your heart from embracing God’s grace.
 
The Bible portrays God as a waiting Father, gracious in spirit and generous in forgiveness; one who is always waiting with open arms for us to return to Him. Perhaps today, for once, you will open your spirit to receive that grace.