What Is That in Your Hand?
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“Then the LORD said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied. The LORD said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 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.”—Exodus 4:2–41
If we are going to live a fruitful life, then it must begin with God asking, “What is that in your hand?” As precious as it may be, it takes our willingness to throw it down and surrender it completely to God. It might be something as important as Moses’ staff was to him, but in our hands, under our control, it can become a harbor for the snake.
At the burning bush, God commissioned Moses to free His people from Egyptian captivity, and He told him to throw his staff on the ground. The staff would have been indispensable to Moses, as it represented his livelihood. When he threw it to the ground, it immediately turned into a snake that Moses ran from. After forty years of herding sheep in the desert, Moses knew picking up a snake by the tail would be extremely dangerous because it leaves the head free to attack. But he trusted God, picked the snake up by the tail, and it turned back to the staff in his hand. What God was demonstrating to Moses was that He would look after the dangerous parts, and so it is with us when we surrender everything to God.
We may have worked long and hard at our jobs, but will we give them up to God? He may give it back as He gave Moses his staff back, but it then becomes “the job of God,” just as Moses’ staff became the “staff of God.” It will be the same job God gives us back, but under new management, new power. What about relationships, finances, studies, ambitions, and dreams? Will we drop them at the feet of God and allow Him to take control?
Surrendering completely to God does not mean everything will go smoothly. We will more than likely be taken to the front line of spiritual warfare, but the pharaohs will not frighten us; the Red Sea will not hold us back; the drought will not deter us; and the Amalekites will not defeat us, because we have in our hands what Moses had in his hand … “the staff of God,” through which many miracles were performed.—Charles Price
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“What is that in thy hand?” God said to Moses while he was alone in the wilderness tending his sheep. There was Moses sitting alone and dejected on the semi-desert mountainside watching a mere flock of sheep and wondering why he couldn’t be out saving his people from the slavery of Egypt, feeling like such a failure after 80 years of nothingness and seeming further from his goal than ever. He was just a shepherd when he could have been Pharaoh of Egypt! What a picture of defeat with only a wooden rod instead of a golden scepter!
But suddenly God spoke and simply said, “What is that in thy hand?” In effect Moses answered, “Only a wooden rod, Lord. Only a poor old shepherd’s crook and a few dumb sheep in the wilderness of a strange land among strangers. What could I do, Lord? I’ve made such a mess of things! I’m such a failure. I’m nobody now, when I could have been king if I’d stayed in Egypt as Pharaoh’s son. But what am I now, Lord? I’m old and I’m nothing but a poor shepherd with a few dumb sheep, living on the charity of others who are not even my kindred. I guess I’ve really failed, because now You can’t trust me with anything but a few sheep and no more authority than this old wooden rod. I’ve failed to save Your people, and now it’s too late!”
I know how he felt because I was there once, thinking my life was behind me and that I’d never accomplished much for the Lord, that I only had my own little family and my children to show for my whole life’s work, living in the equivalent of a tent by the wayside watching over nothing but one tiny little flock with seemingly nothing but wood in my hands—no gold, no job, no home, no nothing but those little lives that He had given me to guide with His Word.
But one day God spoke and said, “What is that in thy hand?” I said, “Nothing, Lord! Nothing but an old worn-out wooden rod and a few kids.” But again God said, “What is that in thy hand?” And still I questioned, “What do you mean, Lord? You can see what I have in my hands! Nothing but this rod and my little lambs! What can I do with these? They’re nothing! We’re nobody!” But He said, “If you will go in My name and say only that I have sent you, I will do great things which you know not of.” And so He did, according to His promises.
With that old wooden shepherd’s crook in Moses’ hand, through the voice of Aaron, God used Moses as His instrument to free six million Jewish slaves of Egypt, plague the world’s leading power, part the Red Sea, and deliver the Israelites from their Egyptian bondage through great tribulation into the Promised Land, although Moses himself died on the mountain and never got to see the fulfillment of his dreams in this life.
Never belittle the little things or little ones! So if you’re currently devoting your time to caring for others, or being a parent to your own children or maybe even somebody else’s children, and you’re wondering what you could possibly do with nothing but a Bible and these ones in your hands, think of Moses.—David Brandt Berg2
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God will start with what is in your hand even when it seems menial and insignificant. “What is in your hand, Moses?” This was God’s response to Moses’ ample excuses about why he was not qualified to lead Israel out of slavery to Egypt. The wisdom of the statement God spoke to Moses at the burning bush can still speak to us today.
Can you imagine what must have gone through Moses’ mind in that moment? After all, a staff is nothing more than a glorified stick! How was it going to make an impact in Pharaoh’s court? There is nothing extraordinary about a staff. But understand this: the common becomes mighty when God anoints it.
Offer unto God what He has placed in your hand. “What is in your hand” means whatever is in your care or control. This could be money, possessions, influence, talents, abilities, and more. What you withhold and retain in your hand reveals what is in your heart. Child of God, release what you hold. Your Father is waiting to use what He has placed in your hands.
Samson had a donkey jawbone to slay a thousand men. Ruth had grain gleaned from the field. David had his sling and stones to defeat the mighty Philistine champion. The unnamed boy had his five loaves and two fishes. The woman had an alabaster jar filled with oil to anoint Jesus. We all have something in our hands. As we release what is in our hands, He releases what is in His! He is ready and willing to anoint what is in your hands.
Heavenly Father, I come to You in the name of Jesus. Show me what is in my hand. I am ready to release it to You. I will do whatever You would have me do with my life. I want to make a difference in the world today. Reveal the power of what is in my hand so I can be an answer to the problems that surround me. Anoint what I carry and help me fight with what I already possess. In Jesus’ name, amen.—Lisa Bevere3
Published on Anchor May 2015. Read by Debra Lee.
