What’s in your hand?

Recently, looking again at the lives of some of our favourite well known characters in the bible, I was reminded of the fact that in their generation they were as ordinary as we are. What was it that made them great? It was the fact that they chose to trust God and obey His word against the odds. They were also faithful and persevered in what they were called to do.

Moses, although raised in the Pharoah’s palace, had to learn to precisely obey the voice of the Lord in the lonely desert place, when, stripped of his royal trappings, God called him to deliver the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. When he conversed with God that the people wouldn’t believe that God had sent him, God asked the question, “what is that in thine hand?” When he answered “a rod”, God instructed him to throw it on the ground. It became a snake and Moses fled from it. Then God instructed him to pick it up by the tail and it became a rod again. These were early and simple lessons in obedience for Moses, as he learned to walk with God.

Everyone knows that in normal circumstances, a snake should never be picked up by the tail. But God was testing Moses obedience to His word, and training Moses in the use of his rod in his ministry. When the children of Israel eventually came out of Egypt, and they were caught between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army that was pursuing them, it was under God’s direction that Moses rod became the rod of God when he held it up over the Red Sea. Moses obedience moved the hand of God and the Red Sea parted allowing the children of Israel to go through on dry ground.

Similarly, David would have had much practice with his sling and stone as a boy as he called out to God to help him protect his father’s sheep from the lion and the bear on the lonely hills. Now the sling in David’s hand together with the chosen stone, became the vehicle, under the anointing of God, which brought down Goliath.

God used the rod in Moses hand to save the Israelites and bring Pharaoh to his knees, and the sling and stone in David’s hand to defeat Goliath. Under God’s direction He will defeat the Pharaohs and Goliaths in our lives when we give Him what we have.

But God can also use what is in our hand for different purposes. He provided for the needs of the multitude when the need arose, as the boy with the five loaves and two fish discovered. It is the anointing that brings the blessing.

So whatever your need is, God’s question to Moses applies to each of us today. What is that in thine hand? Trust Him, and you will find that He can do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask or think.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I lay before you what is in my hand today and await your instructions. Help me to trust you with all that I have, for your glory, as everything I do have, belongs to you. In Jesus Name. Amen.