Exodus 4:1-6: a reflection

1Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’” 2The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” 3He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it. 4The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail.” He stretched out his hand, and took hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand. 5“This is so 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.” 6The LORD said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.

Moses is full of objections. They will not believe me, he tells God, they will say the LORD has not appeared to you. And God answers his fear not with a rebuke but with a question and a provision: what is that in your hand? A staff, Moses says, just an ordinary shepherd's staff. Throw it on the ground, God says, and it becomes a snake; take it up, and it is a staff again. God takes the plain object already in Moses' hand and makes it an instrument of his power.

Notice the question: what is that in your hand? God does not ask Moses to go find some special equipment. He starts with what Moses already has, an ordinary staff, the tool of his ordinary trade, and turns it into a sign. Throughout the deliverance to come, that same simple staff, now the staff of God, would part seas and strike rocks. God took the thing already in Moses' hand and used it.

That is often how God works. He does not usually wait for us to acquire something impressive; he asks, in effect, what is that in your hand, and takes the ordinary thing we already have, our skill, our resources, our small offering, and makes it an instrument for his purposes. You may feel you have nothing special to bring, only the plain staff of an ordinary life. But that is exactly what God asks for. Put what is in your hand at his disposal, and watch what he does with the ordinary thing you already hold.

Lord, when Moses doubted, you asked, what is that in your hand, and turned his ordinary staff into an instrument of your power. I feel I have nothing special to offer, only the plain tools of an ordinary life. Take what is already in my hand, and make it an instrument for your purposes. I put it at your disposal.