Take Hold of God's Assurance
Day 1: God equips us with everything good for doing His will
Moses threw [the staff] on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand (Exodus 4:3-4).
I am terrified of snakes. Small snakes, large snakes, harmless snakes, dangerous snakes—it doesn't matter. Even just looking at a snake gives me the heebie-jeebies! So you can imagine my shock and horror when a few weeks ago, I stepped out onto my patio, and right onto—a snake!
Even in the relatively rural area where I live, I seldom encounter snakes. I have occasionally seen small garden snakes in and around the surrounding countryside. And once or twice I have caught a glimpse of one slithering through the blackberry bushes at a local "Pick Your Own" farm—but I'm constantly on guard and I wear tall boots on my blackberry picking trips!
But here on my patio, I was caught completely off guard. Head down in my phone as I queued up the music for my walk, I stepped on the back of the monster just as my brain registered the glimmering black mass. I jumped a million feet into the air and screamed loudly enough to be heard in the next county!
The representative who answered my call at the County Animal Control listened kindly, but laughingly to my full-fledged hysteria. "It's only a rat snake," she told me, as I tried in vain to convey the horrors of my leviathan encounter. "It's probably just trying to get some sun. It will move on soon. Since it's not inside your living space, we won't send anyone out."
Not inside my living space! Easy for her to say! My patio has never been the same since...
It was only a few days later that my morning devotional included Moses' encounter with God at Horeb, the mountain of God (Exodus 3:1-4:17). It was not the first time I had read the account, but suddenly, the snake loomed large. Perhaps it was my own recent snake-scare, but the words "it became a snake and [Moses] ran from it," hit me with new impact.
And then, the enormity of what followed next slowly entered my brain. The Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” Moses duly obeyed: So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand (Exodus 4:4).
I seriously wondered how I would respond if I were Moses. I imagined the dead silence. And then the stuttered protest, "Lord, are You really asking me to pick up a snake? You know all things—You know that snakes are 'not my thing!'"
And suddenly I realized—I didn't have to wonder. Because I became painfully aware of all the countless "snakes" I had refused to pick up even as I heard the Lord direct me, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.”
It also dawned on me that frankly, Moses, too, struggled with the "snake." True, he followed God's directive to physically pick up the snake-staff. But deep inside, he too, struggled with phobias. He too, struggled with insecurities. He too, struggled with "not my thing:"
Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue” (Exodus 4:10).
God was patient with Moses, assuring him of His divine presence and instruction. But finally, He would no longer tolerate Moses' resistance. Because at the end of the feeble excuses—Moses', mine, yours—God's directive remains clear, "Yes, I AM God. I know all things. I made all things. Take hold of the snake. Take hold of My assurance. Take hold of Me."
Comments