wisdom from papa

There is a long list of things that I cherish in my life but somewhere on the top of that list are life chats with magoo and papa (grandma and grandpa). Whenever I get the chance to spend time with them a few things are always present. First, there is almost always a plate of assorted Italian meats and cheeses along with a wide variety of other foods that MUST be eaten. After all, we are a big Italian family and this a non negotiable. Second, there is always some sort of storytelling. They love talking about the memories our family has made over the years and with every story, I cherish more and more the crazy family God has blessed me with. Third, there is always laughter (mainly because of the ridiculous stories being told). Fourth, there is ALWAYS room for dessert. And last but not least, there is always some sort of wisdom being given. This might be my favorite part of spending time with magoo and papa.

A few weeks after I told my grandparents about the World Race we were all together at a family function. After the eating, laughing and storytelling was over, my grandpa pulled me aside and asked to talk. Papa is a one-of-a-kind guy. Picture someone who you might think starred in The Godfather; tan skin, muscles, thick salt and pepper hair, and a very snazzy outfit. Now picture that same character in The Godfather with a pair of bifocals on and a Bible in their hand studying the Word of God. That’s papa. Papa loves Jesus, he loves learning about Jesus and he loves imparting wisdom. That day he began to share with me what God showed him about my decision to join the World Race.

He leaned in close to me and told me how proud he was of me. He told me how brave it is to lay down everything that was valuable and comfortable to me in order to do what God was calling me to do. He told me how my current situation reminded him of Moses and his staff.

If you are not familiar with the story of Moses, feel free to check out Exodus 2. To make a long story short, Moses was a guy who should have been a slave all of his life because he was an Israelite. But he raised as a prince in the home of Egyptians who were the very ones who enslaved his family. Through a series of events, he was exiled from his home when he reached early adulthood and lived in a small desert town for a majority of his life. He settled down there, got married, had a family and worked as a shepherd for his father-in-law. Many years had passed and Moses was living a comfortable, stable life; but God had different plans.

One day while Moses was minding his own biz, tending to the sheep in the field, God appeared out of nowhere with a life changing challenge. God remembered the Israelites who were still trapped in slavery. He saw their misery and heard their cries and He wanted to work through Moses to bring freedom to His people. God wanted Moses to go back to the place he was exiled from and demand that Pharaoh let the Israelites go.

Moses objected at first. He couldn’t possibly understand why God chose him and how in the world something like this could be pulled off. There was a lot of doubt, fear, and confusion in Moses’ heart and rightfully so. In Exodus 4, God was trying to explain to Moses that if he said yes, God would be on his side. And when the God of the universe is on your side, nothing is impossible. So God began to perform some signs to show Moses just how powerful He really was. Here is their interaction…

2 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” Moses replied.

3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

This was the part of Moses’ story that papa was encouraging me with. He began to explain to me the significance behind the staff. Moses staff was everything to him. He was a shepherd so his staff represented his identity, his means of living, his security, his provision, his protection, and his comfort. In that moment, God was asking him to throw down his staff. God wasn’t just asking Moses to lay down his staff in the physical, He was also asking him to lay down everything that the staff meant to him. God was asking Moses to lay down all his comforts, stability and provisions. Can you imagine the surrender that must have required? When Moses laid it down, it immediately turned into a snake. In a moment, everything that the staff represented was gone. God didn’t take away his staff forever. He quickly turned it back but through Moses’ surrender, God performed a miracle.

Soon after that first miracle, Moses said yes to what God wanted him to do. And from there, God worked through Moses to bring freedom to the Israelites. The cool thing is that almost every miracle that God performed through Moses for the rest of his life was done with his staff. God continued to use Moses’ surrender to move in mighty ways and to change the course of history.

As Papa spoke these words to me, every bit of my soul resonated with them. Papa went on to explain that I am heading into a season where God is wanting to work through me to do some amazing things. He hears the cries of His people that are in pain and He is asking me to go to a new place and to help bring deliverance. But in doing so, God is asking me to lay down my staff. I need to be willing to surrender my current provisions, my security, and my comfort in order to allow God to move through me in crazy ways.  It doesn’t mean those things will be gone forever, but my surrender gives God the permission to work through me and it leaves room for God to become the only source of true comfort.

So here’s to papa and all of his wisdom.

Here’s to new revelations from God’s Word.

Here’s to God choosing to work through little humans.

Here’s to Moses’ surrender and all the good God brought from it.  

And here’s to laying down my staff.