But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.
-Exodus 4:17

For the record, I happen to have it on good authority, that my wife would say that nothing good could come from giving a man a big stick and turning him loose with a free license to use it.

More to the point, I find it interesting that Moses was so reluctant to set out on the task that God had chosen for him. God kept making all kinds of concessions to reassure Moses. But, Moses just kept complaining about how inept he was...how he couldn't do it...how he wasn't good enough. At one point he even asked God if he would send someone else to do it.

What Moses failed to see was that, within his very hand, was nothing less than God's power and purpose for his life. Yet, it wasn't enough for him. He chose to focus on the negative and keep trying to find ways to be in control of outcomes.

He allowed the enemy to whisper dark counsel into his inner core, telling him he couldn't possibly do this...someone else maybe, but him? No...not him. I'm sure the list was long: too old, too tired, too poor, too hurt, too scared...

Still, within the grip of his leathery hand lay the symbol of God's assurance of victory; in the form of a stick. God even gave him detailed instructions on how to use it. Come on, Moses, get with the program.

In our own lives, God is constantly showing us that we can do it; that we can finish strong and victorious. He bears the monumental task of convincing us that we are completely capable through him. Of course, we drown him out with our own doubt...even though the stick is still in our hands.

As believers, the most potent and miraculous tool we have, beyond prayer, is our testimony. We are given our stories with God's blessing. He draws near and warmly tells us to take them in our hands so we can perform miraculous signs with them. He would not have given us our stories if he thought we couldn't get them to the people and places he had purposed from the very beginning.

Testimony can be frightening. It makes us vulnerable and subject to scrutiny. But we should take heart. As with all things, our stories don't actually belong to us...not really.

Maybe we could stop hitting ourselves with those sticks for a minute and start beating the enemy about the head and shoulders with them instead.