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Sometimes a Rod is Not Just a Rod

“The pen is mightier than the sword” is a statement coined by English author, Edward Bulwer – Lytton. What he left out of the statement is that for the pen to be mightier than the sword really depends on the person holding the pen. In the hands of a child, a pen could be really nothing more than an obje ct of fascination or even a mere plaything. Even in the hands of most adults the pen is nothing more than a mere writing instrument, but the same pen in the hands of a skillful writer could turn out to be a very powerful instrument of persuasion or a very destructive weapon of slander. In the hands of most shepherds, the shepherd's staff or rod served as a mere instrument of protection and rescue for endangered flock as well as a symbol of assurance of the shepherd’s power, but the same rod in the hand of Moses became a very powerful instrument of the enabling power of God for ministry. Moses’ “burning bush” encounter with Jehovah could be considered one of the most powerful calls to ministry recorded in the Bible but it was not without some initial doubts and very strong resistance from Moses [Exodus 3: 1 – 13]. One of Moses’ doubts came in the form of reservations about his adequacy for the daunting task. And who could argue that it was not? Just as it was Moses’ fear, our greatest fear in responding to God’s call in our lives is also rooted in our own doubts. Among many of our doubts is the doubt of our potential and of our adequacy for the call of God [Judges 6: 14 – 16]. We also have a fear of failure and the fear of how others would receive us [Exodus 4: 1; Jonah 1: 1 – 3]. And through our doubts and fears we simply forget about the possibility that God could have already given us what it would take to get the job done.

At a time that appeared to be Moses’ highest point of doubt in the “burning bush” encounter, God asked him, “What’s that in your hand?” [Exodus 4: 2]. Moses reply was “A shepherd’s staff.” And that same staff later became a powerful instrument of God’s enabling power in Moses’ 40 – year ministry. There were very few miracles that God performed through Moses that the same shepherd rod did not take part in. As recorded in the Exodus account, Moses used his shepherd’s rod to decisively execute at least six of the ten plagues [Exodus 7:19; 8:5, 6, 16, 17; 9:23; 10: 13, 22]. Moses used his rod in the parting of the Red Sea [Exodus 14: 26, 27] as well as in the turning of a solid rock to a spring of fresh water at Horeb [Exodus 17: 5 – 7]. Whenever you are confronted with doubts you should always keep these facts in mind – God wants to use you in the fulfillment of his purpose, you have what it takes in your hand, God is with you, and you could allow yourself to be used or excuse yourself from being used. And knowing that a rod is just not a rod is to know that God will not give us a task without also giving us what it would take to get the job done.

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