"And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:"

                             -Exodus 4:2-4

I know that most of the time when we speak about Moses' encounter with God through the burning bush, we usually talk about the many excuses he made attempting to avoid his call, and his doubt in the Lord's ability to use him. But I'm going to give Moses a break this time and, instead of focusing on his faults, I'm going to focus on something he did right.


We read in verse 3 of this passage that when Moses' rod supernaturally turned into a snake, he immediately ran for cover. Now unless he had a severe phobia of snakes, this verse gives me the impression that this snake must have been pretty dangerous. Whether it was extremely large or venomous, or perhaps even both, the Bible does not say; all we know is that this was a snake to be feared. Yet, despite his obvious fears, when the Lord commanded Moses to walk over and pick it up, he was obedient. He grabbed it by the tail and it turned back into a rod. No, it didn't bite him; instead, the very thing that he had been trembling at just a few moments earlier, suddenly became a harmless stick of wood.

Here we have the story of a man whom God taught to face his fears. In this case, it was a snake; a few days later, it would be Pharaoh.  In both situations, God was with him and taught him a very valuable lesson: when you are being obedient to the voice of God, there is nothing to be afraid of.

"Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents." 

                            -I Corinthians 10:9

What's the "snake" in your life? Is it witnessing? Public speaking? Algebra? Whatever it is, could it be that God is calling you to quit hiding from it and to walk over and take it up by the tail? Whatever the case, it's not God's will for you to be destroyed by a serpent.