Exodus 4:17-18

And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs. And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

The Lord now tells Moses to take the rod in his hand, for it would be the instrument through which signs would be done. That rod had already been the subject of an important lesson. Moses had thrown it down, seen what it was in itself, and then taken it up again under the direction of God. Now he is told to carry it with him. It would no longer simply be the rod of a shepherd. It would be the rod God would use in a mighty way. What had once represented an ordinary life in Midian would now become associated with the power of God in Egypt.

But what strikes me just as much as the rod is the spirit in which Moses moves next. He goes back to Jethro and asks permission to leave. That is a beautiful glimpse into the kind of man Moses had become. Here is a man who had once lived in the palace of Egypt, a man who had known privilege, influence, and position. Here is a man who has now heard the voice of God from the burning bush and has been called to lead one of the greatest acts of deliverance in all of Scripture. And yet when he returns home, he does not act with swagger. He does not bark out his plans as though no one around him matters. He speaks with humility, respect, and submission.

That says a great deal.

Real spirituality does not make a man proud. A genuine call from God does not make him careless in his relationships. If anything, it deepens humility. Moses was eighty years old, and still he spoke with the courtesy and honor of a submitted man. That is deeply admirable. Age had not made him harsh. Calling had not made him arrogant. Spiritual experience had not made him independent in the wrong sense. He was still humble enough to speak gently, still respectful enough to ask, still lowly enough to move in peace.

That is a needed lesson, because sometimes people imagine that if they have a calling, a vision, or some strong sense of what the Lord is doing, they no longer need to walk carefully with the people around them. But Moses shows the opposite. The man most truly prepared to be used by God is often the man who has learned submission in ordinary life. He is not merely impressive in public matters. He is humble in private dealings. He is not only ready for the big moment. He is faithful in the small posture of respect.

And notice Jethro’s response. “Go in peace.” There is something sweet in that too. Moses leaves, not in conflict, not in self assertion, not in tension, but with peace spoken over him. The Lord had called him, and now the path begins opening quietly before him. The rod is in his hand, but humility is in his heart. That is a strong combination. God is about to use Moses mightily, but the man being used is no longer driven by the old forcefulness of his younger years. He has been shaped by the desert, softened by time, and steadied by the presence of God.

And that is often the kind of man the Lord delights to use.