THE ROD OF GOD

"AND MOSES ANSWERED and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.  And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand?  And he said, A rod.”  (Exodus 4:1,2).

Success in life should not be measured so much by what we achieve compared to others, but what we achieve with the gifts that have been given us.  Many fail to obtain this success, though, because they don’t recognize and believe that God can use them regardless of how insignificant or unprepared they may feel.  Too many folks are crippled from being spiritual­ly effective by their own fears, doubts, and feelings of inadequacy.  They look at what they have in comparison to others who they consider “gifted,” and “talented,” and they feel that they themselves have nothing to offer.  They consider them­selves weak, and foolish, and feel they are unable to contribute anything significant.  If they can’t be a great orator, or vocalist, or musician, or author, then they feel that they have nothing important to share.  In the natural realm it may be true that only the exceptionally talented are chosen to succeed, but in the spiritual realm it is quite the opposite because, “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).  God delights in taking our weaknesses and showing His might and glory through them.  The apostle Paul was concerned about a weakness that was in his flesh and he asked the Lord to heal him of the affliction.  God’s answer to Paul’s entreaty was, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”  Paul was then able to say, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

When Jesus’ disciples surveyed the crowd of five thousand that had assembled to hear the Lord speak they were worried about having the resources to feed them.  They said, “There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?” (John 6:9).  We have no trouble recognizing the need and how great it is.  What we have trouble with is seeing that God is asking us to selflessly abandon the “little bit” that we have so that He can bless it, and multiply it, and work the miracle.  The little boy with the loaves and fishes was not concerned or embarrassed that his lunch was not sufficient to feed the crowd.  He was only concerned with giving what he had to Jesus.  Jesus took care of the crowd by multiplying that lunch.  This boy was not worried that he might not get any of his own dinner if he gave it up either, he trusted in the Lord’s provision.  When the disci­ples came and told him that the Lord wished to have his dinner, the lad just gave it up for the Master to use and, because of his faith, Jesus blessed the little and multiplied it, and a miracle occurred. 

We, too, must learn that God is willing to bless and use the little that we have.  Never mind that it seems insignifi­cant and inconsequential to us.  He will get the glory and we will learn humility.  The real question is not if our gifts are important, or if they are sufficient to meet the need, but rather are we willing to give what we have to the Master?

Moses was doubtful of his own ability to speak to Israel for God.  He wasn’t the great orator, or eloquent of speech; and so he felt he could not speak to them.  Even though God encouraged him and said, “I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say,” yet he did not believe.  This caused God to choose Aaron his brother to be His spokesman (Exodus 4:10-17).  Moses’ weaknesses were merely an avenue through which God could show Himself mighty, but Moses did not yet understand this.

Moses had picked up a rod of wood somewhere in his wanderings in Midian.  It was undoubtedly a long stick that he used as a shep­herd’s staff, a walking stick, and, if need be, even a weapon.  It was probably crude and worthless except for the usefulness which Moses found in it.  It was this very instrument, because of its utter insignificance, that God was interested in glorifying Himself through.  He asked Moses, “What is that in thine hand?”  It was just that old rod, but it was what Moses possessed.  It was that same rod that God later turned into a serpent before Pharaoh, and swallowed up the serpents of Pharaoh’s magicians.  This same rod Moses would pass over the Nile and see it turned to blood.  This same rod would divide the waters of the Red Sea to deliver Israel from Pharaoh’s wrath.  This old, crude rod of wood became to Moses THE ROD OF GOD!

Too often God’s people today don’t recognize the importance of the thing that is in their hand.  They think in terms of God using what they will have, or will know, or will become, but they miss this essential secret of spiritual ministry:  God wants to use what they now have and what they now are.  God’s strength is made perfect through our weakness!

Certainly there is much we could say about waiting till the Master asks to use what we have so that we are led by His Spirit and not by our own whim or emotion.  Or we could talk about our spiritual effectiveness being directly linked to our proportion of faith; but we must address those issues elsewhere.  What we must ask here is: What is in your hand and will you let it be the rod of God?  Will you return to Egypt (the world) with it to glorify God almighty?  Will you say, “Lord, here am I, send me!”

“Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:6, 7).