Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A rod,” he replied.  The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

God was about to give Moses an assignment to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt but he was in doubt, he thought he could not do it. When he began to question God’s plan, God asked him what was in his hands…Moses replied, “a rod”. God transformed the rod into a serpent and from that point God used Moses’ rod to perform miracles.

 Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your bosom.” So Moses put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.

Now put it back into your  bosom, He said. So Moses put his hand back into his bosom, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

If Moses was going to accomplish the task of bringing the Israelites out of Egypt, then he must learn two crucial lessons:

He must be able to handle the snake and He must learn how to handle the flesh.

The snake represents the devil and God is saying we must learn how to handle the enemy, when the enemy comes at you, God says give it over to Him and He will do the rest. God told Moses to pick up the snake by its tail (the small end). If you will take care of the “small end” God will take care of the “big end”. God wants a partnership with you.

The flesh can rob us of the anointing. If we cannot handle our own flesh, we will never be able to help others.When Moses killed the Egyptian to protect his people, he gave in to the desires of the flesh. He was eventually discovered, your acts of the flesh will always be uncovered. You must learn how to take hold of your fleshly desires and give them over to God.

Moses lost his temper and smote the rock with the rod that God had anointed and he got himself into trouble again. We should be careful of how we use the gift,talent and the authority that God has given us. If you give in to the flesh, no matter what your position, it will cost you. Moses gave in to the flesh through disobedience and God did not allow him to enter the Promised Land.

Culled from: when little things get in BIG HANDS by Jentezen Franklin.