In Moses' Hand
Exodus 4:1-5
Then the Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied. The Lord said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.
Moses had a tool in his hand. Moses was a shepherd; therefore, it is not odd to find a staff at hand even at a chance encounter with God. Moses had spent forty years tending his brother-in-law's flock in the desert and by this time was an old man. Thus, his staff is no different than a common tool of his trade, a symbol of his exile, and even a reminder of his physical weakness. In God's hands the weaknesses, the trade, and even the brokenness become something he can use. Look how when God told him to throw down the staff and it became a snake on the ground Moses is so human that he ran away from it. Even he ran from God-given power and responsibility. Notice how Moses held the responsibility, the snake, by the tail. He was not afraid of being bitten even though this was the most vulnerable position in which to be. God guided the tool, the gift, and even the temptation as we see it later became for Moses, an expression of anger and frustration. For Moses, the snake meant fear; however, God used his inexperience in handling snakes, power, and even leadership to deliver a nation. Thus, his people became another flock of sheep with whom God entrusted him. Maybe God has chosen you to do something because he knows you can handle the responsibility, the request, and the response.
Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you'?"
The place of the witness does not matter for God's mandate of ministry extends to the end of the earth. His will is "done on earth as it is in heaven" according to Matthew 6:10. Just as he created the order of the angels as his messengers of heaven, so the church was supernaturally empowered to be his witnesses throughout the region of the earth. That is not to say angels cannot be ministering spirits of God on earth as in heaven; however, the church's mission location was primarily the earth. That is why we can say that "whatever state" we "are in" or whatever place we find ourselves we can be content as in Philippians 4:11 for we find everything we need in Christ. The times of ministry remain in the Father's control. We use his time wisely as stewards of his grace. However, as the Father committed all things unto the Son in John 5:22 and we have sonship through him, so we can know that the times and seasons are under the Father's control. There is an appointed time.
This," said the Lord, "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."
The one who calls is also the one who equips. We need higher spiritual empowerment. With greater appointment and anointing comes bigger battles, testing, and temptations. For example, the son of God faced many days of testing from the devil himself. They were days of pure evil not recorded in the Scripture. Even Jesus was given an assignment to preach to the imprisoned spirits disobedient in the days of the flood long ago in 1 Peter 3:19. The power of God follows you as you fulfill your assignment. Even while walking in his power fulfilling your assignment, you may not yet be restored. But in fulfilling your assignment, restoration may come. Restoration is not the primary purpose of the power, the message, or even the mission. Moses shows a life so lived before God that his very life became an expression of God's power.