Stress Test Devotional May 25
May 25, 2024
EXODUS 4:1-5|1Then Moses answered, “But look, they may not believe me or listen to me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ” 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw the staff on the ground, and it became a snake, and
Moses drew back from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and seize it by the tail”—so he reached out his hand and grasped it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 “so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
Estimating what is involved in a great endeavor is a complex task for a leader. Moses knew public support for liberation was crucial, and that is hinged on the Hebrew people trusting that his leadership came by divine appointment. In an earlier passage, just after Moses killed the Egyptian taskmaster, he tried to intervene in a dispute between two Hebrews. One resists his authority, “who made you ruler over us!?” Moses has no actual power, he has no army, no guards, no financial resources. His only power will come from the people’s belief in him and from God’s aid.
God gives Moses two signs, the staff which becomes a serpent, and the temporarily leprous limb, to demonstrate his divine calling. No one can estimate in advance all the challenges and risks in a great endeavor, to expect so or demand so is to immobilize yourself.
What authenticates a true Christian calling?
