Passage: Exodus 4:1-9
1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”
2 Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
3 The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.”
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 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. 5 “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.”
6 Then the LORD said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.
7 “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the LORD said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”
Reflect:
What if? What if it doesn’t work? This is the classic struggle. In the face of doubt and fear, God reassures Moses with two miracles. Miracles to confirm God’s power? Yes, but also to demonstrate that transformation (staff & snake) and healing (leprosy) was at the core of what God was doing in Moses’ life. God knew the people would listen because the change that was happening in Moses was something only God could do. Not only would Moses’ words be a testimony of God’s power, but also his transformed life. As we read the rest of Moses’ account, we see this was only the beginning of God’s transforming and healing work. We see that from beginning to end, God’s presence is with the called and He will change us to accomplish what he has called us to do.
Respond:
Today our lives testify about God and His salvation. When God called us he brought transformation and healing into our lives. But it doesn’t stop there! God assures us that as we live out his call, the transformation and healing will continue. This continual transformation not only allows us to live more fully for the call, but it serves as a testimony of what God can do in our lives.
In a slump? Have real doubts and “what if” questions crept in? As God’s called people, let us be assured by God’s promise that His transforming work in our lives will continue. There is more to come! Today let’s accept God’s invitation to once again change. And as we pray, the Holy Spirit (Presence and Power) is at work in us, freeing us to live out God’s call.
]]>The 2011 PROMISE Summer Success Institute will sponsor a 12 Hour Marathon “Dissertation House” session at the Sheraton Columbia Hotel on Friday, August 19. The marathon will last from 1:00 PM Friday, 8/19 until 1:00 AM Saturday, 8/20. This session is limited to PROMISE DH alumni and a limited number of guests.
Eligibility and Instructions
Interested students must: