What’s in your hand Moses?

Exodus 4:2  And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

Moses had been working the flocks of Jethro for forty years. He was familiar with the staff. The shepherd’s staff was a general all purpose tool in his profession. It could be used as a weapon, a walking aid, or a gentle snare for the wondering lamb. But it was only a long curved stick used in a profession that was detestable to the Egyptians. But, what miracles God worked through that simple stick. It became a serpent before Pharaoh.  The Nile became blood when Moses struck the river with it. The stretched out rod brought frogs across the land. The rod struck the ground and brought forth lice. The rod brought down thunder and hail with fire running along the ground. The stretched out rod brought locust. The lifted rod and outstretched arm parted the Red Sea and made a way for the children of Israel to escape.

But it was only a common tool of his trade — nothing more, nothing less. God met Moses in Jethro’s fields and asked a terse question, “What is in your hand?” Then He took Moses where He found him and transferred that simple tool into the famous symbol of the Exodus with awesome unction from the throne of God. All it took was the courage of Moses to follow his calling back to the land of captivity to led his brothers out — with his tool in his hand.

God calls each of us where He finds us. He finds us with one simple tool or another. What power He can infuse with His holy unction. Listen to His voice.  What is in your hand?

— Donnie Bryson