The Oh Heck Moment
During the call of Moses at the burning bush, in Moses’ reluctance to do what God invited him to do he says the following , “What if the Israelites don’t believe that you have appeared to me?” God asks Moses, what was in his hand? Moses is carrying his staff, a wooden stick which Moses used in his care of the sheep as well as to give himself greater stability as he walked the desert terrain. Yahweh proceeds to tell Moses to throw it down, to release it. Moses throws down his staff and when it hits the ground it turns into a snake. One thing you can be sure of being a shepherd in the desert, Moses knew snakes. Moses starts to run from it – he no longer has his staff to protect him from it. But the LORD tells Moses to pick up the snake – by the tail. This is the “Oh heck” moment. Moses the desert shepherd would know that the last way to pick up a snake is by the tail; it could curl up and bite you. The way to pick up a snake, (should you have occasion to do so!), would be to use your staff to pin it to the ground by the back of the neck and pick it up there, so that it cannot twist and curl and bite. Moses fearfully obeyed and took hold of the snake by the tail. When he got his fingers wrapped around the snake it changed back into a staff right in the palm of his hand. There is an oh heck moment very often as we invite when we need to summon up our courage to face the possibility of rejection. Face it and invite someone to take a closer look at Christ and his church and may you know God is with you.
