In Exodus 4 Moses goes before the Lord all scared and anxious, all full of fear and worry... but God ignores His fears and asks Moses kind of a strange question. God says, "Moses, what is that in your hand?" Duhh... I can just see Moses look down at the staff he was holding. Moses may have even thought it was a stupid question, but he obediently replies, "It's a staff, Lord." Kind of saying... “What of it?”
Well you know what happens next. God tells Moses to throw his staff on the ground and it turns into a snake and Moses picks it up and it becomes a staff again. Whoa! A miracle right before his eyes! And I love what the Lord says to Moses: "Moses, this is so that others may believe that the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob has appeared to you."
What a story, what a story. And it all started off with a simple question from God: What is that in your hand? For those of you today who are struggling with some kind of limitation, maybe the same sort of anxiety and worry and fear that Moses faced... if that's you, God may be asking you, "What is that in your hand?"
Is it a white cane or a hearing aid? Is it a crutch or a walker? Is it a wheelchair or a wrist or ankle support? What is that you are holding? Is it the hand of your disabled child? Is it the hand of an elderly parent for whom you are caring? Are you holding the guard rail to a hospital bed right now? God is asking you today, "What is that in your hand?"
God wants to use whatever you are holding onto today. He will use the most ordinary of things, things which you have right at hand, perhaps even a person, someone very near to you. God specializes in using the most ordinary of things through which He shows up His power. It's like that little poem:
"Shamgar had an ox goad, David had a sling. Samson had a jaw bone, Rehab had string. Mary had some ointment, Moses had a rod. Dorcas had a needle ‑‑ ALL were used of God."
The staff which Moses held in his hand was just an ordinary stick of wood, but, oh, it became a powerful tool when Moses pushed aside his worries and let God get to work. Your wheelchair, or that cane that you're leaning on, that hearing aid you have, or the walker that you're pushing... even if it's the hand of a disabled child or adult, God wants to use the most ordinary things and the most ordinary people to do a mighty work.
So let me ask you one more time... but pretend that the question is coming from the Lord. Scripture says, "What is that in your hand?" Answer the Lord, give to Him, let Him do His work so that all will know that the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob has visited you with His grace. And who knows... you might see a miracle happen before your very eyes.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
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