LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil​
 
Friday 17th April 2026

TAKE YOUR ROD

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone”. Exodus 7:19

This is the beginning of Egypt’s afflictions and plagues. For hundreds of years, Egypt afflicted Israel with all manner of hardships. Now, the tables were turned and Egypt became the nation to suffer afflictions.
 
God instructed Moses to tell Aaron to use the same rod that turned into a serpent. The rod was stretched over the waters of Egypt – streams, rivers, ponds and pools. Just as God’s power turned the rod into a serpent, His power was present to work another miracle through that same rod. God’s power cannot to be constrained to one expression; He can work through us in different ways at different times.
 
The “streams” refer to the branches of the Nile; the “rivers” refer to the irrigation canals that were dug from the branches of the main river. The “ponds” were the natural accumulations of waters in permanent lakes or in temporary pools and marshes; while the “pools,” were the reservoirs made to hold water.
 
Aaron did not just stand in one place to stretch out his rod. He had to move from one place to the other for the plague to take effect in those places.
 
Wherever Moses and Aaron went to and stretched the rod over the waters, they activated the hand of the Lord over that place. In effect, the Lord used their feet and hands as the extension of His power. The effect was so extensive that it included waters that had previously been collected from the Nile – in buckets and pitchers.
 
What Moses and Aaron did is comparable to what we do today. It is similar to a Christian doing a prayer walk over a territory to establish God’s presence. Wherever we go, we become the extension of God’s power there as we pray and proclaim His name.
 
Allow yourself to be used by God to manifest His glory as you move from place to place going about your life’s endeavours.  

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, let your power be manifested wherever you take me. Glorify yourself through me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.