Good morning. When God called Moses to be His agent of rescue for His people held in slavery in Egypt, Moses was reluctant to say yes to the task. Moses asks what seems to be a reasonable question: Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. Exodus 4:1-3
Moses’ concern seems valid. After all, why should the Israelites listen to him? It had been 40 years since he had run away from Egypt, so who would pay attention to him now? God decided to give Moses a demonstration. In Moses’ hand was his shepherd’s staff, a simple walking stick, probably about 5’-6’ long. When Moses saw that God had made the stick into a snake, he did the sensible thing, he ran away. But then God commands even more from him: But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail” Running from a big snake seems quite sensible, reaching out to catch it by the tail, not so much. But Moses had a faithful spirit: so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
This was the staff that Moses threw down in front of Pharaoh, it was the staff he lifted up to part the Red Sea, it was the staff that struck a stone in the desert and water began to flow. That was quite a stick!
God made this very ordinary staff of Moses into an instrument capable of demonstrating His power. It was this staff that Moses always held in his hand, and it was this staff that was the constant reminder that God could turn a stick into a snake and back again. If God is able to do that with a piece of wood, He can certainly take the most stiff-necked and stubborn person and cause them to find humility. God is able to take a very stubborn minded person and make them an example of His love, His grace, His acceptance, and His power.
Never underestimate what God is willing and able to do in order to reveal His salvation to the lost of this world. He will always find that worthy stick, even if it is called ___________________________ 🙂
Vern