Exodus 4:1-11
1 Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”
Here I see that Moses was reluctant to obey because his focus was on himself and not on God. If we look more closely at the verse we see the following: “not believe ME”, “what I say”, “not appeared to ME (you)”. Many times I am hindered from obeying God because I look at the impossibility of the circumstances / situations I am in and then I look at myself and my resources and capabilities and realize my inadequacy.
2The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” 3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.
God never intended for me to be adequate and sufficient in and of myself. (John 15:5)
In verses 2-3, I see God asking Moses to let go/throw what it was he was holding onto in his hand. At this point in his life, Moses was a shepherd. The staff he was holding onto represented all that he was. It was only by letting this go (i.e. throwing it to the ground) that he was able to see God´s power.
Has my confidence, pride, dependence on who I am and what I have over-shadowed my confidence, trust dependence on who God is and what He can do? Am I holding on to something that is preventing us from “fully” experiencing God´s power in my life?
4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand—
Another interesting insight I can glean from this passage is in verse 4. The preceding verse (v.3) tells us “Moses fled from it” (i.e. the staff turned serpent). He was afraid. God uses this as an opportunity to increase Moses´ faith by asking him to “stretch out his hand” and hold it. This was literally a stretching of his faith. I imagine Moses could have said “Ok, Lord I believe You already can we just skip the touching of the snake part?” Had this been the case, he (Moses) would have robbed himself of the opportunity to experience God even more as He transforms the snake back into a staff.
Am I in a situation where God is asking us to take that “leap of faith”, to “stretch out our hand (by faith) and receive what He has laid up in store for me?
There will be times when God will grant me precious opportunities like this to “stretch my faith.” Just like in running. When I started running, I could barely run 1 km. But each day, I would run a little further, a few meters more with each day. Today, I can now run 3km. The farther I push myself to run, the further I am able to run in the end. I believe the same holds true for my faith. The more I stretch and exercise my “faith muscles” the further I can trust God and the greater my experience of Him will be. It boils down to a choice of whether I remain where I am or take that leap and know Him, His faithfulness and power even more.
5 “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.”
By allowing God to “work in me and through me” instead of thinking that I “work for Him” I, and hopefully the people around me, see and experience His power. I see this principle applied and reinforced in the way God worked through David as well. David´s focus as he faced Goliath was not on his own capabilities and resources but on God.
In 1 Samuel 17:37; 46-47, David shows us the condition of his heart in contrast to the condition of Moses´ heart in Exodus 4:1;10. David says:
1 Samuel 17:37 ”And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
1 Samuel 17:46-47 “This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. …that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.”
The lesson I learn here is that in the end however impossible the situations I might face, success will ultimately depend on my answer to one question: “ Will I be self-sufficient or God-sufficient, independent or God-dependent in this situation?”
1 Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”
Here I see that Moses was reluctant to obey because his focus was on himself and not on God. If we look more closely at the verse we see the following: “not believe ME”, “what I say”, “not appeared to ME (you)”. Many times I am hindered from obeying God because I look at the impossibility of the circumstances / situations I am in and then I look at myself and my resources and capabilities and realize my inadequacy.
2The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” 3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.
God never intended for me to be adequate and sufficient in and of myself. (John 15:5)
In verses 2-3, I see God asking Moses to let go/throw what it was he was holding onto in his hand. At this point in his life, Moses was a shepherd. The staff he was holding onto represented all that he was. It was only by letting this go (i.e. throwing it to the ground) that he was able to see God´s power.
Has my confidence, pride, dependence on who I am and what I have over-shadowed my confidence, trust dependence on who God is and what He can do? Am I holding on to something that is preventing us from “fully” experiencing God´s power in my life?
4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand—
Another interesting insight I can glean from this passage is in verse 4. The preceding verse (v.3) tells us “Moses fled from it” (i.e. the staff turned serpent). He was afraid. God uses this as an opportunity to increase Moses´ faith by asking him to “stretch out his hand” and hold it. This was literally a stretching of his faith. I imagine Moses could have said “Ok, Lord I believe You already can we just skip the touching of the snake part?” Had this been the case, he (Moses) would have robbed himself of the opportunity to experience God even more as He transforms the snake back into a staff.
Am I in a situation where God is asking us to take that “leap of faith”, to “stretch out our hand (by faith) and receive what He has laid up in store for me?
There will be times when God will grant me precious opportunities like this to “stretch my faith.” Just like in running. When I started running, I could barely run 1 km. But each day, I would run a little further, a few meters more with each day. Today, I can now run 3km. The farther I push myself to run, the further I am able to run in the end. I believe the same holds true for my faith. The more I stretch and exercise my “faith muscles” the further I can trust God and the greater my experience of Him will be. It boils down to a choice of whether I remain where I am or take that leap and know Him, His faithfulness and power even more.
5 “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.”
By allowing God to “work in me and through me” instead of thinking that I “work for Him” I, and hopefully the people around me, see and experience His power. I see this principle applied and reinforced in the way God worked through David as well. David´s focus as he faced Goliath was not on his own capabilities and resources but on God.
In 1 Samuel 17:37; 46-47, David shows us the condition of his heart in contrast to the condition of Moses´ heart in Exodus 4:1;10. David says:
1 Samuel 17:37 ”And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
1 Samuel 17:46-47 “This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. …that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.”
The lesson I learn here is that in the end however impossible the situations I might face, success will ultimately depend on my answer to one question: “ Will I be self-sufficient or God-sufficient, independent or God-dependent in this situation?”
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