What Is That In Your Hand?

Most people could admit to serving up an excuse or two now and again.

What if you offered similar excuses for not going to a championship football game as you did for not going to church?  Such as . . .

• They always ask for your money
• The people I sit next to aren’t very friendly
• The seats are too hard and uncomfortable

Truth is, we can usually think up pretty good excuses for not doing something, especially if we think we’re not qualified.

Moses was just like us. The story, and Moses’ excuses, pick up in Exodus 3. You can almost imagine God saying, “Moses, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is I’ve decided to bring my people up out of Egypt and lead them into a land flowing with milk and honey.”

What’s the bad news?” Moses asks.  God says, “I want you to do it.”

Then the excuses flow. “Who am I that I should go?” v 3:11. Then, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and tell them and they say, “Who told you to do it? Who put you in charge? What is his name?’  What should I tell them?”

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites.” v 3:14.

Moses tried one more desperate attempt to pass the buck. “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ”

Then God asks the question that sets the stage for the whole Exodus journey: “What is that in your hand?”

God was about to give Moses a dose of His awesome power. God told Moses to throw the staff down; it became a snake. He picked the snake up again and it became a staff again. God told Moses to put his hand in his cloak. When he pulled it out the hand was rotting white with leprosy. “Now put your hand back in your cloak and pull it out again.” When Moses did, his hand appeared normal. “Then, if they still don’t believe you, Moses, take the staff and throw it in the Nile and I will turn the water into blood.” v. 3:9.

God used Moses’ staff to prove His power, to provide for His people, to get water from a rock, to part the Red Sea, and to fight His people’s battles. He worked through an ordinary carved stick in Moses’ hand to do extraordinary things.

God had a purpose for Moses. God would gain the glory, He would save His people, He would bring them out of Egypt and into a land flowing with milk and honey — with a stick. What Moses had in his hand.

So, what is that in your hand?

Is it a staff of encouragement? Of service? Of hospitality? Of teaching? Has He walked you through a dark valley and asked you to share His awesome faithfulness through your testimony?  Has he given you a staff of financial blessings to share with others? Has He given you compassion towards the less fortunate? Has He given you a staff of mercy?

Everyone in Christ, every child of the King, is carrying around a staff (gifts or talents) God can use to further His plan, and we can use to bring glory and honor to God.

Will we save a nation with our staff? Probably not. In fact we may not  know what God will do with our staff.  But we know, just like Moses learned, that God can do awesome things beyond what we can think or imagine if we’ll use what we have in our hand.

What about you? What kind of staff do you have in your hand? Are you using the tools God gave you to bring glory to His name?

The truth is you can’t glorify God, you can’t even use the tools you have in your hand for good, unless and until you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you know He loves you more than any other person on the planet? Do you know He doesn’t care who you are or where you’ve been or what you’ve done? He loves you anyway and He wants you to know Him.

God wants you in His Family. Would you like to know more about Jesus and the grace and salvation He offers any and everyone who will believe in Him andclaim Him as Savior? If you would, just Follow this link to learn more about Jesus and  discover the awesome, unconditional love He has waiting for you.

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