Wednesdays with Moses

Read Exodus 4:1-5 – Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’” So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), “that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” (NKJV)

How will others know that God has sent me? Moses’ question is one that every follower of Jesus will encounter at some point. We may struggle at times to be convinced that God is with us, but convincing others—especially those who don’t follow God—can be an even bigger concern. Here, God shows Moses that He will make the ordinary things of Moses life become extraordinary. Moses’ rod, the stick he would walk with and lean upon every day becomes a snake—and since Moses ran for his life we can assume it wasn’t a cute one either. The point is that God would show himself to others through the routine things in Moses’ life. He demonstrates His presence with us in the same way—making our ordinary efforts into something much more. So don’t worry—God will show Himself in your life in ways that others will come to respect and believe.

– Dr. Mike Clarensau serves as Senior Director of the Healthy Church Network of the Assemblies of God.
National Light for the Lost Day . May 6, 2012 . www.men.ag.org