Day 6 - Enjoy the Silence

Exodus 4:1-5 ----

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."

Hey Folks! So, my apologies, I skipped a day, I ended up staying the night at a Friends house and didn't get a chance to blog. Forgive me? But let's start up where we left off! Day 6.

So, MOSES - a wicked cool guy. God called Moses to do a massive, radical task. I am sure it seemed outrageous at the time. So... why Moses? Moses had history. To say the least, his family situation was kind of messed up (weird adoption process). He was known in Egypt as a murderer, which made going back to Egypt not exactly appealing. Also, to top it off, he couldn't really talk. Yet, God said... I choose you, Moses.

Read the first five verses again. What is Moses feeling? Have you ever felt like that? Journal it.

Read it again, this time, check it out from God's perspective. While Moses is feeling less then adequate God asks one strange question and two odd commands. What is in your hand? Throw it on the ground. Take it by the tail. Put yourself in the position of Moses. Moses knows that snakes are dangerous, he is shepherd, he isn't dumb. He also knows that grabbing a snake by the tail is a terrible thing to do, sense the head of the snake is free to bite. What would you be thinking about God's command?

"Perhaps God was giving Moses a vivid picture of how the things we fear - the memories and doubts that poison our future, that lie between us and where God wants us to go - need to be confronted head on. Perhaps God was helping Moses understand the deep guilt, forgotten hopes, and lost dreams of the past can be wither a snake on the ground intimidating you or, through his power and grace, a rod in the hand."

Examine yourself, maybe you have your own fears, painful memories, regrets, etc. If so, is it keeping you back from what God is calling you to do? Right now, in silence, with these words, God is asking you to throw down all that "crap" before him. He wants to change the snake on the ground to a rod in your hand.

Journal what is frightening you and holding you back. Listen quietly, God's talking, forgiving, and assuring. He is restoring you. Restored. Every time you are brought back, every time you are restored you become stronger. Remember that.

God is nearer to us then we are to ourselves.

-Colton