The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand.
Exodus 4:2-4
The flower bed was a mistake in the first place, so with the senseless motivation that often comes in the second trimester of pregnancy, I set out with a pitchfork to get rid of the over-crowded plants and return the area to lawn. After a lot of digging, I stepped out of the garden to survey my progress. That’s when I saw it. Coiled up under a bunch of lilies, only inches from where my bare and swollen ankles had just been, was a large snake. I’m sure I shrieked. It hissed at me and rattled its tail.
My mother always told me, “There are no poisonous snakes in Minnesota,” but whatever variety of big snake it was, I didn’t want it in front of my house! So I took my rake and my hose and I drove that snake out of my yard, screaming at it the whole time. I got it onto the sidewalk, covered it with a bucket and called animal control. Upon their arrival, they informed me it was a rattlesnake.
Yes, I know, the rattling tail should have clued me in. But Mom always said…
No, I didn’t faint. I just sat on my front steps and rocked myself for a while, in shock at the thought of what I’d just done and of the hours I’d spent before that, well within “if it was a snake it would bite you” range—indiscriminately stabbing and stepping and reaching down—yet my God protected me, and our yet-to-be-born little son, and did not let the snake strike.
I’ve read the above passage many times, but I still find myself holding my breath a little when Moses reaches for that serpent. Think of it. He had to pick it up while it was still a snake, not knowing what would happen. And he had to take it by the tail, not the head which would have at least allowed him some protection from being bitten. But God asked him to do what would require the most trust in Him and His protection. Moses had heard God’s voice, and though he didn’t know the specifics, he knew God had called him to lead His people out of bondage. At first he was scared and he argued and he ran, but when God said, “Catch it by the tail,” he did it!
Does the power of your gifts and calling ever frighten you so much you wish you could run away? Mine does. Not because I’m something extraordinary, but because I’m particularly easy to scare. God routinely has me to do things in the very ways that require the most trust in Him—things that expose my weaknesses and put me at risk of what I fear most. But He’s spoken! I take that seriously and I need to respond in obedience. I want to do the scary things because I want to trust Him more, and be trusted with more.
(But, please Father, not more snakes.)
