What does Moses’ shepherds staff have to do with God’s call?
There’s this great moment in the Bible when Moses speaks with God for the first time. Moses is out in the wilderness shepherding sheep when he notices a bush that is burning in the wilderness, but it is not being consumed by the fire. So Moses goes over to investigate and then God starts speaking to Moses from out of this burning bush.
During their conversation, God tells Moses to free the Israelites who are in Egypt. But even though this entire conversation is taking place via a burning bush, Moses is very apprehensive and unsure. He has all sorts of questions and excuses for God and at one point he literally says, “God, please send someone else.”
At one point in the conversation, Moses says to God, “What if the Israelites don’t believe that you sent me?” This is the first of a long line of doubts that Moses is going to raise, but God’s response to this is so powerful. God says to Moses, “What’s in your hands?”
God answers Moses’ question with a question, and in so doing he’s guiding Moses to see what God could see all along. Because in Moses’ hand was, of course, a shepherd’s staff. Moses had been out in the wilderness shepherding his sheep, and now God was asking Moses to shepherd the lost Israelite sheep out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and to the Promise Land. This entire story is a powerful reminder to us that when God calls, it’s because God sees something important within us. We may have doubts and questions, but God has already placed in our hands all that we need.
So, what’s in your hands? What gifts or skills do you have that could be used in a new way for the sake of God’s mission?
There’s this great moment in the Bible when Moses speaks with God for the first time. Moses is out in the wilderness shepherding sheep when he notices a bush that is burning in the wilderness, but it is not being consumed by the fire. So Moses goes over to investigate and then God starts speaking to Moses from out of this burning bush.
During their conversation, God tells Moses to free the Israelites who are in Egypt. But even though this entire conversation is taking place via a burning bush, Moses is very apprehensive and unsure. He has all sorts of questions and excuses for God and at one point he literally says, “God, please send someone else.”
At one point in the conversation, Moses says to God, “What if the Israelites don’t believe that you sent me?” This is the first of a long line of doubts that Moses is going to raise, but God’s response to this is so powerful. God says to Moses, “What’s in your hands?”
God answers Moses’ question with a question, and in so doing he’s guiding Moses to see what God could see all along. Because in Moses’ hand was, of course, a shepherd’s staff. Moses had been out in the wilderness shepherding his sheep, and now God was asking Moses to shepherd the lost Israelite sheep out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and to the Promise Land. This entire story is a powerful reminder to us that when God calls, it’s because God sees something important within us. We may have doubts and questions, but God has already placed in our hands all that we need.
So, what’s in your hands? What gifts or skills do you have that could be used in a new way for the sake of God’s mission?
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