I turned into the driveway to my office. A snake crossed my path. For a second, I thought I could do like the people on television and catch the snake. I saved that thought for another day. The next day, I left my office and stepped onto the concrete steps. Suddenly, there was that snake. I ran in one direction, and it slithered in the other. We were both afraid.
That is also the story of Moses. At the burning bush, Moses tried to avoid what God was calling him to do, so God sent him a snake! He commanded Moses to throw his staff onto the ground. “So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent.” “And Moses ran from it.” (Exodus 4).
Of course he did!
Our story continues. God told Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail. He put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand.” Don’t miss the sequence. He ran. God told him to pick the snake up. He stopped running and picked up the snake. After he picked it up, “it became a staff in his hand.”
I don’t mind picking up a snake if God will turn it into a stick before I pick it up.
Sometimes, however, God asks us to reach for the very thing that terrifies us—that difficult conversation, that risky step of obedience, that uncertain future. He whispers, “Trust Me. Pick it up.” Not because He’ll fix it before you grab it, but because He’ll help once it’s in your hands.
Often, life makes perfect sense looking backward. But it must be lived looking forward.
I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking.