Saturday 19 January 2008

throw down your rod! (just updated!)

i was at prayer meeting last night. God's presence was awesome. It was a strong call to consecration to Him. During the worship, i was reminded again of a dance that i saw many years back in my mid-teens. It's been coming back to me in the last week actually.

I don't really remember the tune of the song, but i remember the dancer miming out the words of the song, which was about Moses being called to throw down his rod. This dance has been impacting my life through the years as i grew in the Lord as i would remember time and again the lesson. God would show me different aspects of being consecrated to Him.

In a way, you could call it a prophetic dance...

The rod in Moses' hand represented his vocation, his comfort zone, his ability and talent, the strength of his life. But as Moses decided to give his all to the Lord by throwing down his rod as instructed by the Lord, it became a serpent - a symbol of God's power and might. God actually asked Moses to pick it up, and when he did, it became a rod again.

But the rod was already different. Now it represented God's authority and power in the hands of Moses. Moses was different. God was then able to use Moses because of his obedience to bring His people out of Egypt, a land of bondage and oppression. God could trust Moses.

What does it mean to throw down your rod? It may mean different things to different people.

For me, one of the things that i had to put aside was my love for singing. It's been my dream since i was in my mid-teens to sing all over the world. I've had to "put it down", throw it down many times, so that i no longer needed it to boost my self-esteem, or serving my purposes selfishly.

One of the things i loved to do was to sing solo. This allowed me to push myself to improve my voice, as i had to practise and ensure that i could handle the songs easily, and some songs were a challenge. I took exams, i sang in a few musical productions, and assumed that God allowed me to participate in all these just because he allowed me to take the first steps. I went further than God allowed me to. So quite a few times, i had to pull back, and give it to the Lord.

I remember once i actually felt physically sick when i even thought about going for rehearsals. This took place over a few weeks, before i finally spoke to the music director, and withdrew from the choir and any production.

Each time, the Lord would return it to me - when the Lord put it in my hand again, it took on different life and power. i also became more focused on His plan and purpose for my life, instead of pursuing my own desires, whims and fancies. This did not happen immediately of course. It was noticeable only after a period of time had passed.

I wanna sing for Jesus all over the world.
I wanna touch them with His saving and healing power, advancing His kingdom.
I wanna bring people into His presence where they encounter Him and never be the same again. I wanna be HIS channel of blessing, bringing rivers of living waters to those thirsting for Him, bring hope to those in despair, bringing truth and light to those in oppression and darkness.

It's His to use as He wills.

I care less and less about how i sound, or how good i am. And the wonderful thing is that He takes care of that part of it.

Ultimately, it's about Him and giving all GLORY to Him. My part is to continue to be yielded to Him.

It's about having Him and knowing Him in my life, not just His gifts. I continue to focus on Him.

Phil. 3:10-11
(ESV)
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.

(AMP)
Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One),

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