A Simple Staff

Exodus 3:11 says, 

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

This was a fair question. Moses was left as an orphan, raised as a prince, but then killed a man and was wanted for murder. Moses now lived in the wilderness as a simple shepherd. Moses had a stuttering problem, and he had been away from Egypt for 40 years. 

Now as a shepherd Moses had very little to offer the Lord. As a prince in Egypt Moses had wealth and influence, but now he lived as a fugitive. Egypt would be the last place he would want to go. Moses now wore the clothing and carried the instrument of the shepherd - a simple staff.

For 40 years Moses used this simple staff as a shepherd watching sheep. There is nothing of prestige to see here… just a man holding a staff… watching sheep… and the years go by...

But one day while going through the daily routine of a shepherd's life, Moses had an encounter with God. This encounter would change everything. Here he stood before the Almighty Creator of the universe. God had everything…. Moses had a simple staff…

First, he watched as God turned that simple staff into a snake. Later, Moses went into Egypt with that same simple staff. There, it again turned into a snake. The staff-turned-snake swallowed up all the serpents of Pharaoh’s magicians. That same simple staff touched the River Nile and turned its waters to blood.

This simple staff (with God) brought frogs up from the earth to cover the land of Egypt. This simple staff (with God) smote the earth, bringing forth vermin and lice. When Moses held “this simple staff” heavenward, hail rained down from the skies, with fire flashing in its midst.

This simple staff (with God), held up once more, brought locusts to devour Egypt’s crops. Moses took that simple staff (with God) as a sign of his calling as the shepherd of Israel.  That same simple staff (with God) split the Red Sea so that Israel could go across!  Once the people were safely across, that simple staff (with God) – struck the bank and the sea rushed in from each side killing Pharoah’s army! And with that simple staff he led God’s children… an entire nation…. Out of captivity!

Perhaps, like Moses, we are called to consider what we already hold in our hands that can be used by God. Moses took what he had, gave it to God, and a simple staff became God’s tool. A simple staff in the hand’s of God’s servant assisted Moses in his calling as God's shepherd of Israel.

What gifts, talents, and resources do we have already hold in our hands? Collectively – as God's people – What do we have already in our hands? Just imagine what God can do with what what we are already holding.