Don’t run away from challenges or obstacles

And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
	Exodus 7:10–12
I like that, don’t you? Aaron’s snake just got bigger and bigger as the magicians’ snakes were scarfed up. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel,” Jesus said. “And if you come across any serpents, they will not hurt you” (see Mark 16:18). As Paul put wood on a fire, when a snake in the sticks felt the heat, it fastened its fangs into his hand. Observing this, the natives decided Paul must be a murderer to deserve such a fate. But when they saw him shake the snake into the fire and feel no harm, they changed their minds about him and he was able to give a grand and powerful witness for Jesus Christ (Acts 28:1–10). As believers, we are not free from attack, but we are immune to its effect. Snakes show up and they strike. But, like Paul, we can shake them off. Even though the Enemy was able to produce snakes, Aaron’s rod ate them up. Joshua and Caleb were among the group of twelve who spied out the Land of Promise. “The land is a glorious place,” they said to the children of Israel upon their return. “But there are giants there. And we’re like grasshoppers in their sight,” argued the other ten. “No. God is with us, and these guys will be bread for us. We can eat them up,” countered Joshua and Caleb (see Numbers 14:9). But the people listened to the ten instead of the two and wandered for forty years. After their entire generation died, Joshua and Caleb were at last allowed to enter the Land of Promise. When they arrived, a now eighty-five-year-old Caleb said, “Joshua, for my inheritance, give me the land where the giants are” (see Joshua 14:12). Why would Caleb make such a request? Because he knew something about giants. He knew they were bread. And he was hungry. “Give me the challenges which challenge others,” he said. “Give me the giants—and pass the butter.” Don’t run away from challenges or obstacles,. Instead, say, “This is a chance for me, like Aaron’s rod, to grow bigger and bigger. It’s a way for me, like Caleb, to grow spiritually strong.”