The Snake in My Hand

No, I have not become a snake handler. But I did think that the title might catch your attention. There are those people (in faraway places) who are snake handlers or snake charmers, some might call them. The picture that comes to my mind is the little man sitting cross legged in front of a basket playing a flute. As he plays, a snake, usually a cobra, slowly uncoils itself out of the basket swaying back and forth to the beautiful music, to the amazement of the crowd surrounding the man. Then, slowly, deliberately, the little man continues his song as the snake winds itself neatly back into the basket.

That’s a lot more impressive than a man picking up what he thinks is a stick only to find that it is a snake. That man will scream, throw it down and run away. That’s just downright scary. Welcome to Exodus 3.

What’s with the staff and snake thing in Exodus?

Not long ago, actually it was about four years ago, Phil and I noticed that the face boards over the garage were peeling. Typically, we ignored it. We wanted it to get really ugly before we did anything. So, we mentioned it to each other and promptly did nothing. This spring, as I moseyed up the driveway, I again noticed the peeling paint and knew that we needed to do something. Ignoring it was not making it go away. So, I took the step of going to the local paint store, buying a paint color with a ridiculous name much too big and grand for its purposes. Of course, as soon as I took got home, I didn’t like it. So the paint sat and the face boards and trim on the house continued to peel and look bad. For two weeks I was paralyzed with the fear of putting paint on our house and not liking it. What if everyone in the neighborhood also hated the color? What if our daughter who is very color conscious and design savvy also hated the color? Would she be too embarrassed to invite her friends home? What if my husband’s boss came over and fired Phil over the color of our trim paint? You can see why the color selection kept me awake at night. One day as I was walking, I noticed the successful color selection prowess of everyone else in the development. I was amazed at how well everyone else could select the exactly perfect colors to enhance the beauty and value of their home. So, I prayed for a color selection anointing. You may be shocked to know that I did not receive it. Instead, I heard the following verse in my head “What is that in your hand?” I was a little stunned taken aback by the question, since I knew that God knew what was in my hand regarding the desire for the color selection anointing. “Uh, I have a paintbrush and a gallon of customized paint called ‘butternut’ which I cannot return and cost me $34.00.” Harrumph. “Just use it. You will never find the perfect paint color unless the paint name is “perfect color for face boards over the garage and trim.” Just use it.” So I did. I used the paint in our garage and guess what? I really like the paint color and though I have visited the same unmentioned paint store probably 25 times since then, I haven’t felt the strong urge to repaint the house. And no, my husband wasn’t fired over the color of our house, our daughter has even invited friends over to our house, no one in the neighborhood has moved because of the color selection, even with the butternut colored trim.

What’s the lesson I learned? Use what is in your hand.

Moses was on the cusp (although he did not know the extent of it) of the biggest assignment of his life. He had an idea that it was big and he had an idea that it was bigger than him, otherwise he would not have argued so much with the Lord. He gets the invitation to approach the living God through the burning bush. Then he hears the voice of God Himself say “I love my people, I have heard their cry, I remember my promises to them and I’m here to answer their cry. So now you go.” Moses was tracking with God all the way up to “now you go.” But the more God talked about the people, the king of Egypt, the bondage, the king of Egypt, four hundred years of slavery, the king of Egypt, the weight of the covenant, the king of Egypt, the more Moses began to realize that he was getting enmeshed with the very plans and purposes of the God of the universe and it was scary. “They won’t believe me or even listen to me.”

God’s answer to Moses is very interesting. “It’s not about your credibility Moses, nor is it about your persuasive skills. It’s about what I am doing through you.” So, He asks Moses, knowing all along what the answer is: “what is that in your hand?” To his credit, Moses does not pull the eleven year old boy trick and answer “nothing.” “A staff,” he replied.” (Exodus 4:2) Of course it is a staff! Moses is a shepherd. He was out doing his shepherding thing. He was out minding his own business, doing what he had chosen to do in Midian, and the thing he was doing well, when he suddenly saw the burning bush. The thing in his hand was the tool of his trade.

Then comes the part we learned about in Sunday school: the staff is turned into a snake. So the tool of Moses’ trade becomes a thing that sheep would fear. It was scary enough that it turned into something from which Moses himself ran. And, probably everyone else would run away from as well. Sometimes the thing in our hand is frightening. At God’s command, the ordinary tool of our trade can become something fearsome to those around us and to us as well.

Then it becomes a staff again. Moses is instructed to grab it by the tail and it is turned back into a harmless, but effective, and useful tool of his trade again. Hmmm…did I know that when I follow the instruction of the Lord, that the tool in my hand becomes something fearsome but controlled?

I am a writer and a talker. I have a friend who in answer to the question “what’s your gifting” will sometimes answer “I talk.” Then she laughs her wonderful laugh and will go on to elaborate her answer. The truth is, that IS her gifting. And I know it is also mine. I talk, and I teach. The maxim is “the pen is mightier than the sword.” The tools of my trade are my tongue and now, the keyboard. I speak and I write. But oh, how often, those very same tools become our worst liabilities. I say the thing I cannot pull back. I write the thing and hit send before I have cooled off. I speak the words that are forever now in cyberspace. And sad as it is, then I learn the truth of the maxim previously quoted…the pen, the keyboard, the tongue is mightier than the sword, at times causing greater pain than the point of the rapier. The staff in my hand (or in my mouth) becomes a snake. And then like Moses, I want to run away from the very thing with which God has equipped me.

Yet, the truth cannot be ignored: that which is in your hand is often the very thing that God wants you to use to tackle what could be the toughest assignment of your life

So, the question I have for you today is, “what is that in your hand?” Maybe it is a color you don’t like; maybe it is something you are second guessing; maybe it is something that you don’t think is very cool, or sexy, or necessary, or important, maybe it is something way too familiar. But what is in your hand?

My second question is, “are you using it?” Rather, are you letting God use what’s in your hand? Or is that “snake in your hand” sitting, slithering, in the basket?

My admonition is as follows: don’t wait for the “select the perfect color anointing.” Hear the Lord, obey the word of the Lord, watch for Him to perform His word.

Leaning on the Character of God

I recently had to tell my parents a difficult thing…my husband was resigning from his job. That wasn’t the hard part. The hard part was that he did not have a job to which he was going. We are on the road of faith and the end is good, but getting there takes…well, faith. That isn’t the point. The point is this, my parents were not too crazy about Phil’s transition from Xerox to full time ministry. I had no idea what their reaction to a move from full time ministry to home missions was going to be.

We chatted for a long time as I went in circles about our dreams, the vision to which we believe God is calling us, together as a team, as a couple. At one point, obviously a little flustered by my inability to explain in a concise fashion the job description for his next assignment, she calmly said, “Ellen, I trust Phil and I know this will be alright. He is a good man and a resourceful man. He will find a way through it.”

As a wife, I beamed with pride. First of all, my mother’s words were a tremendous accolade and vote of confidence in my beloved. Second of all, it was a much better response to our news than I had expected. And finally, even though she could not see her way through the circumstances, she trusted in my husband’s character to bring us through. And, that, is the point.

As we have moved through this adventure to the point we are now, Phil has often commented that he feels a little like Abraham getting instructions from God: “Leave your country, your people, and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1) Wouldn’t it have been nice if God had said, “oh, by the way, I went by AAA, the Angelic Automobile Association, and picked up this triptik for you, here are some maps, it’s cool because they show you all the detours too. And, every hundred miles or so, you’ll see that there are road side restaurants. Finally, I know you might be a little worried about provision along the way, don’t. I’ve got you covered. Here are some gift certificates for some clothes, sandals, tents along the way. You’ll find everything you need at the Fertile Crescent Mall” which, of course, is clearly marked on the map. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that way. Or rather, fortunately, it wasn’t that way; otherwise, Abraham would not be our father in the faith. He would be known as our father in confidence in things seen…or something like that.

Now, imagine the conversation Abraham had with Sarah’s father as he told him that his god had told him he needed to leave Haran. It’s just another hot dry day in the desert outlying the fertile crescent. Abraham and Sarah’s father are sharing a little cup of goat’s milk, sitting on a little carpet.

“So, uhm, Abraham, Sarah tells me that you are leaving Haran.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Any special reason why.”
“No sir.”
“Then why are you leaving?”
“Uh, God told me to.”
“This new god?”
“Actually sir, he is the only true god. He told me so.”
“So he told you to go. And I suppose he told you he is stronger than the moon god and the god of fertility.”
“Well, sir (he laughs nervously)…it’s not as if the fertility god is doing much for us either.”
“Alright, where exactly are you going?”
“Good question. In fact, that is a great question…to which I don’t have a good or great answer. I am not sure.”
“Well, how will you know when you get to wherever this secret place you are going to is?”
“Yet again, another great question. I don’t know.” He looks sheepishly down at his sandals.
“Abraham, I have entrusted you with my daughter. Do you expect me to just let you take her to some unknown place to worship some unknown God?”
“Sir, I don’t know the way that my God takes me, but I know He is good, and He is loving, and He is the almighty God, able to do all things and able to do anything. The way that He takes me is good if I follow Him, He will not lead me astray. I trust in His character. So I know the way He leads me will be good.”

And that is the point.

We’re all on a faith journey. And there is not one of us who knows exactly where the faith journey leads. If we knew, we would have no reason for faith or for hope. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the confidence of things not seen.. (Hebrews 11:1) And we have that hope and that confidence because of the God who loves us and who leads us.

So, we’re all the children of Abraham, in many ways. We may not be sure where we will end up, but we know who leads us and that He is good. As Christians, we trust in the character of God, we lean on the character of God, we depend on the character of God. That’s why when Moses asked well, if they ask who sent me, what am I supposed to say? God answered firmly, perhaps even laughing as He answered, “tell them, I AM sent you.” So when the way is dark, uncertain, confusing, painful…trust His character. I AM sent you.