THE WALKING STICK

What is that you have in your hand?” Moses answered, “It is my walking stick” (Exodus 4:2).

Moses was tending to his father-in-law Jethro’s sheep in Midian. Forty years earlier, he had trekked approximately 1,400 km from Egypt to Midian: present-day Saudi Arabia. He was fleeing the wrath of the Pharoah after murdering an Egyptian in vengeance for beating an Israelite slave.

When hope was fading, God showed up and offered to redeem everything.

The highly educated adopted son of the Pharaoh, destined for greatness, was a fugitive living a solitary shepherd's life. His dreams of sitting on his father's throne and governing the greatest nation on earth were gone. The result of an impulsive act—his hero complex had gotten the better of him.

When hope was fading, God showed up and offered to redeem everything Moses had lost.

One day Moses led the sheep to the west side of the desert. He went to a mountain called Horeb, the mountain of God. On that mountain...Moses saw a bush that was burning without being destroyed. So he decided to go closer to the bush and see how a bush could continue burning without being burned up. The Lord saw Moses was coming to look at the bush. So he called to him from the bush. He said, “Moses, Moses!” Moses said, “Yes, Lord.” Then God said, “Don’t come any closer. Take off your sandals. You are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses covered his face because he was afraid to look at God (Exodus 3:1b-6 ERV).

As he approached the bush, the voice of God called to him from within the burning bush, revealing Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—now that’s enough to scare the living daylights out of any human—Next, God informed Moses he had a divine plan for him. He was commissioning him as the leader who would deliver the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt.

"What is that in your hand?" ... "It's my walking stick."

But Moses wasn't having anything to do with it. He was filled with self-doubt. He questioned God’s plan. He felt utterly inadequate for such a significant task. Then God asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?” It was God’s way of drawing Moses's attention to something ordinary, his shepherd's staff.

The staff was a simple tool used by shepherds to guide and protect their flocks. By directing Moses to focus on the staff, God illustrated a fundamental principle: He would use the ordinary and recognizable aspects of Moses's life and work to perform extraordinary acts. God wanted Moses to understand it wasn't about his abilities or qualifications but rather about God's power working through him.

God performed miraculous signs using the staff of Moses to confirm His presence and power with him. For example, the staff transformed into a serpent, which was later used to part the waters of the Red Sea. These miracles served as a reassurance to Moses that God's divine power would be at work. He could trust in God to carry out the mission entrusted to him.

John Bevere recently tweeted –or should I say Xed— “The wilderness is not God's rejection but His place of preparation.”

You may be living in a place of quiet regret. You may be grieving over lost opportunities or missteps you’ve made. The Devil would have you abandon your dreams and live a life of purposelessness. I say, Get up. God is not finished with you. You have been in the place of His preparation. You are about to shine. There is a bush in your future that will burst into flames, and the voice of God will point your way forward.

Trust the Lord completely, and don’t depend on your own knowledge. With every step you take, think about what he wants, and he will help you go the right way (Proverbs 3:5-6 ERV).