Throw Down Your Staff

Many times as I read the Bible, I see myself in the stories as told by it's authors. Today, as I read Exodus 3 and 4, I saw myself in Moses as he encountered God who appeared to him as a bush on fire. God instructed Moses to go before Pharaoh and command him to release His people so that they could worship Him. As with most of us, myself included, Moses immediately began to give excuses as to why this assignment was not for him.

But Moses protested to God, "Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?" Exodus 3:11 NLT

Even after God assured him that He would be with him as he went to Egypt and after He gave him the play by play of exactly what to say and what would happen, Moses still came up with more excuses. The Isaraelites will not believe God sent him. They will not listen to him. He stutters when he talks. Yet God patiently responds each time he came up with a reason not to obey. The thing that resonates with me the most today though, is found in Exodus 4:1-4

But Moses protested again, "What if they won't believe me or listen to me? What if they say, 'the Lord never appeared to you'?" 
 
Then the Lord asked him, "What is that in your hand?" 
 
"A shepherd's staff," Moses replied.
 
"Throw it down on the ground," the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.
 
Then the Lord told him, "Reach out and grab its tail." So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd's staff in his hand.

As I read where the Lord said, "Throw it on the ground," so many thoughts came flooding through my mind.

• The staff was the only thing Moses had in his hands and God would use that very thing as a tool for Moses to accomplish his mission.

• This was Moses' first experience with God performing a miracle before his eyes (aside from the burning bush itself).

• Moses was afraid to talk to the people but not afraid to pick up a living snake by its tail.

• This is where the signs and wonders began in Moses' life.

• Moses would not have seen the miracle if he had disobeyed God.

It also caused me to ask myself a series of questions. What is it that God is asking me to throw down to the ground? What is it that I am holding onto that is causing me from stepping into the assignment God has for me? What excuses am I using to avoid moving forward? What if I'm ONE move away from a divine life-changing moment?

The Lord told Moses to again throw his staff down before the people and they will believe he was sent by God. this reminds me of Mark 16:17-20 says, "These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in My name, and they will speak new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed." I don't know about you, but I want to be classified as one of "those who believe." I want to walk in the fullness of all God has for me and I want to see the miracles, signs and wonders that I have read so much about in the Bible. I'm ready to lay it all down on the ground and pick up His plan and purpose for my life.

What is it that God is asking you to lay down today? Is it a person (family or friend)? Is it a career path or life goals? Is it TV or games? Is He asking you to lay YOURSELF down for Him? Listen, had Moses not thrown his staff to the ground, he never would've known what power he carried in his own hands. Likewise, you will not know what you carry unless you throw it to the ground. Stop coming up with excuses as to why you can't... throw them to the ground and watch God perform miracles in your own life.