While we have succeeded in expanding the possibilities of our relationships and involvements, still we run the risk of falling into the treadmill dynamic. It seems we are running very fast in a particular direction, burning some much web energy but remaining in the same location. My point is that there is just so much connecting going on, but very little strategic partnerships.

This is true Life – living for the ultimate reason. This is the Life I’ve come to know, this is the Life I’ve come to embrace – a life lived for Jesus; a life lived for the Kingdom. This is my faith; This is my patience; This is my hope; and This is my life! Who tells you to turn away from sin is easy? Who says to shun temptations and worldly pleasures is funny? But, this Life I’ve chosen; this Life is my discipline! Who tells you it’s simple to forgive ...

It is a common fact that everybody goes through challenges and tough times. There are periods however when one would wish with great eagerness to throw in the towel and just walk away, with our heads hanging in defeat. On several occasions, I have also experienced such “heavy weight” situations. However, my only source of strength and fortitude at such times is the Word of God. I would thus like to share with you in this brief message, a passage of scripture that reassures of God’s promises and assures of his deliverance in such trying times. It is important to mention here that these scriptures when combined with your faith are just as potent regardless of what situation you are facing; a minor headache or a terminal disease, a little financial stress to a major financial setback, a little disagreement with your spouse to divorce. Paul explained this beautifully when he wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:6:
“…for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”
This means that it is when we allow the Holy Spirit to infuse life into the words of the bible through our faith in him that the words become life giving. That is why some people can read the Word without any change or meaning imparted to their lives; because the Spirit is not involved. I have no doubt however, that the words you are about to read will transform you and inspire hope in you.

We see that after the much drama that took place in Egypt, Pharaoh eventually released the Israelites to begin their uncertain journey, of which even Moses did not know the route. He kept on telling Pharaoh that God wanted His children to go and sacrifice to Him in the wilderness, a case that the Bible didn’t mention in Moses’ several conversations with God. Moses got a release order with a cloud of uncertainty as to the real direction he was to lead the multitude through. However, he didn’t have much to worry about, as the one who had performed extreme signs was capable of leading them out and taking them into their promised land. I can imagine the air of discomfort that hovered over Moses every time he went to his kinsmen and boasted that there was a promised land which would be their final destination. Did someone ever ask him for a map of the route they were going to take? Did people ever wonder where he appeared from forty years after he disappeared from Egypt with no clues to his whereabouts? Let’s face it! It surely was not that easy for Moses to wake up and stand before a people who had known no other place other than Egypt for over 400 hundred years. To convince them that they would have to leave their present zone, no matter how uncomfortable it was, to move to a location he called the Promised Land was a tough task. Moses Himself had never been to the place, neither anyone he was leading. So he not only had to lead the people, he had to lead himself.
Fast forward. They are now exited from bondage and breathe the air of freedom. They are not just laden with their properties, but with much wealth as God had promised. Now was the important task of where to go and what direction was the course. The story clearly tells us that God did not lead them through the shortest distance to the Promised Land; a route that ran through the territory of the Philistines, a belligerent people. He directs them instead towards the Red Sea.

There are probably some three kinds of challenges you will face as you journey through your life; the challenges that prove your abilities, those that come to swallow you up, and those that come to oppose you from moving forward. I have always tried to see how I could group the nature of my tribulations so that I can easily identify as I meet them. It was until of late when I decided to study the book of Exodus that I entered into some understanding of how I could assess the character and peculiarity of the situations which we like face all the time. These are the situations I refer to as Sheep, Snakes, and the Sea; the three great S’s which some of us will have to confront at one time or the other.
Before I make an attempt at breaking these down, it would be proper to evoke the context of the story that equips my muse on this issue. Exodus introduces the man Moses to us all, and tells us of his rather strange upbringing and how he was like nothing short of a drama from beginning to the end. But from the whole, nothing struck me as much as the opening chapters of Exodus which tells of his unfortunate attempt at leadership, which led to his ultimate escape from the palace into the wilderness. He became a Shepherd, then a deliverer sent by God, then a way maker. Through this process, one thing was central in the scheme of things, and that was the Rod in his hands. Herein lays the convergence of three separate issues: Sheep, Snakes, and the Sea. With that Rod, he tended to the Sheep, swallowed up Snakes, and parted the Sea.
This is what forms the central argument of my discourse, on how one thing; the Rod in Moses’ hand was what really mattered in the three kinds of circumstances he found himself at the start of his career, or profession if I may say that. Unknowingly he had picked up a rod like any Shepherd would do in order to guide and guard his Sheep, but it went beyond its primary assignment and was transformed into a life saver and a way maker for Moses. The gist is that as I traveled through this story, I found some parallels in my life and thought to highlight that for others to glean from. It is very easy to ignore the things that we already have and look out for other things, which we assume will be what we need for the kinds of difficulties we face. Well I want to take out time now to share how the Rod in your hand is sufficient for your ‘Sheep’, your ‘Snakes’, and you ‘Sea’.