July 9

“Then the LORD said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied. The LORD said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ Moses threw it on the ground and it became  a snake… Then the LORD said to him, ‘Reach out your hand and take it by the tail’.”  —EXODUS 4:2-4

If we are going to live a fruitful life, then it must begin with God asking, “What is that in your hand?” As precious as it may be, it takes our willingness to throw it down and surrender it completely to God. It might be something as important as Moses’ staff was to him, but in our hands, under our control, it can become a harbor for the snake.

At the burning bush, God commissioned Moses to free His people from Egyptian captivity, and He told him to throw his staff on the ground. The staff would have been indispensable to Moses as it represented his livelihood. When he threw it to the ground, it immediately turned into a snake which Moses ran from. God then told him to pick it up by the tail. After forty years of herding sheep in the desert, Moses knew picking up a snake by the tail would be extremely dangerous because it leaves the head free for attack. But he trusted God, picked the snake up by the tail, and it turned back to the staff in his hand. What God was demonstrating to Moses was that He would look after the dangerous parts, and so it is with us when we surrender everything to God. 

We may have worked long and hard at our jobs, but will we give them up to God? He may give it back as He gave Moses his staff back, but it then becomes ‘the job of God’, just as Moses’ staff became ‘the staff of God’. It will be the same job God gives us back, but under new management, new power. What about relationships, finances, studies, ambitions and dreams? Will we drop them at the feet of God, and allow Him to take control? 

Surrendering completely to God does not mean everything will go smoothly. We will more than likely be taken to the front line of spiritual warfare, but the Pharaohs will not frighten us; the Red Sea will not hold us back; the drought will not deter us; and the Amalekites will not defeat us, because we have in our hands what Moses had in his hand… ‘the staff of God’, through which many miracles were performed. 

God does not twist our arms, but if we choose to keep the staff under our control, we also keep the snake. In Revelation 12:9, the snake is referred to as the “ancient serpent called the devil”. In not submitting what we hold precious to God, we give the devil access. But we can surrender completely, giving God the freedom to work in our lives.

PRAYER: Lord, I know your agenda far exceeds my own. Help me to surrender everything I hold precious to You. Thank You, Lord.  

TO REFLECT UPON: Do I trust God enough to give to Him what I hold most dear?