The assignment God gave Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3-4) can be summarized in the following:
Release what you have to the Lord and watch what He can do with it.
The story began with an interesting conversation in Exodus 4. “The Lord said to Moss, ‘What is that in your hand?” Moses said, ‘A rod.” And God said, ‘cast it on the ground,’ and it became a serpent” (vv.2-3). The snake wasn’t the point; God changing the rod was the point.
That rod became a source of great confidence for Moses. In Exodus 7, Moses instructed Aaron to throw down his rod and it also turned into a snake. There’s more; with his rod Aaron struck the Nile River and it turned to blood, he stretched out the rod over the land and God sent the plague of frogs, he held his rod out again and God sent the plague of lice. Later, Moses pointed the rod over the Red Sea and it parted.
The rod is a reminder that God can use something simple to accomplish something amazing. Need more evidence? God used a young teen aged boy to kill a military champion with a sling and a stone, God spoke through a donkey to get the attention of Balaam; God amplified the sound of 4 lepers walking to send the Syrian army into panic, and Jesus fed 5,000 men from one sack lunch.
Imagine what God can do with your simple word of encouragement or a small financial gift to a neighbor. Do you want to do something significant for the Lord? Start by giving him what you have.