Staffed for Ministry: Have you been transformed to lead?

Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

—Exodus 4:2-3a

I have a staff. But I usually call it a walking stick. My friend fashioned it for me from an old tobacco stick.

Many Southern Maryland farmers used to grow tobacco, but twenty years ago they voluntarily accepted funds from Maryland’s Tobacco Buyout program, agreeing to give up tobacco production in lieu of an alternative. Since then, many have turned to produce, flowers, and agro-tourism. I applaud them for giving up the lucrative income of a harmful addictive substance and taking a risk to try something new. And I enjoy the results of their creative efforts—mazes of corn and sunflowers, pick-your-own patches, and petting zoos. I am also impressed with their resourcefulness in using leftover tobacco sticks. Once used for hanging tobacco plants in barns for curing, these sticks have been turned into stars, crosses, and walking sticks.

When I look at my walking stick, I see the transformation, not just in the appearance from rough and splintery to smooth and shiny, but also in its purpose. Once it enabled addiction; now it is used to propel one forward in their walk.

I remember the story of Moses, who also had a staff. He first used it for guiding sheep. I imagine he also used it for support when walking rough terrain and climbing mountains. He probably leaned on it when taking a break to catch his breath.

One day when he was tending sheep on Mount Horeb, God appeared to him in a burning bush and called him to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt.

Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

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. “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” (Exodus 4:1-5).

God used Moses’ staff to perform a miracle, but first Moses had to throw it down. God repurposed the staff and recommissioned Moses, transforming his life from tending sheep to tending people. Under God’s direction Moses used the staff to perform miracles, leading the Israelites out of bondage and onto the Promised Land.

Perhaps you too have had to throw down what was in your hand. Perhaps you surrendered an addiction to God, allowing Him to transform your life. Maybe you gave up cigarettes or another harmful substance or habit. What if God is calling you to pick up that snake by the tail and use it to propel you on a new journey to lead others out of the same bondage? What if He is calling you to use what you once leaned on for new purpose, to share with others your miracle story of how the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob showed up in your life so they too may believe?

  

Let us pray,

Dear God, thank You for transforming my life, freeing me from bondage. I know that leaning on anything in place of You is sin—even my own strength. So I pray now for Your strength as I pick up the snake by the tail and do what You have commissioned me to do. As You were with Moses and gave Him the words to say, so You will be with me as I share with others my transformation story and guide them to Your Son. Amen.

Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields;
for they are white already to harvest (John 4:35).