what do you have in your hand?

there is this moment in the Bible…moses has seen the burning bush and God has just painted this huge picture of the deliverance of His people from the oppression of egypt and how moses was going to lead them into the promised land! an incredible vision and great purpose and a call from heaven to be used by God in great and mighty ways…

moses was feeling so intimidated and overwhelmed by the “bigness” of a great vision that required him. in the light of this call from God, all moses could think about were his shortcomings and disabilities. (you can read all of this in exodus 3 and 4)

moses knew that he stammered and wasn’t a good public speaker, and he feared that, above all, the people might not even believe that God had appeared to him in the first place.

“then moses answered [the Lord] and said, ‘what if they will not believe me or take seriously what i say? for they may say, ‘the Lord has not appeared to you.””

– exodus 4:1 (amplified)

i can relate with this feeling, i don’t know about you. sometimes, when i think of what i know God has spoken to me and what i know He has called me to do, all i can see is how i am not qualified to do it. i see my shortcomings and the setbacks and, like moses, i sometimes wonder, “God, are you sure you’ve picked the right person??” i wonder if people will believe the dream and vision and plan is from God…i can get overwhelmed trying to see how i fit into that great, big vision!

what i LOVE is how God answered moses’ fear…

“the Lord said to him, ‘what is that in your hand?’ he said, ‘a staff’.”

– exodus 4:2-3 (new english translation)

moses was holding his shepherds staff – an everyday, ordinary tool. something common and familiar and practical. his staff was what he used day in and day out. God directed moses to throw it onto the ground and it turned into a snake…his ordinary staff became something God used to display His power and ability.

can i encourage you today?

no matter what you are facing, whether it is a difficult challenge or a great vision that seems impossible… the question is, what do you have in your hand??

God can use the ordinary, everyday things as the display of His glory and the tool with which He brings victory!

when moses was called, God didn’t give him a whole new set of equipment and fancy new gadgets and gizmos to use – no, He worked with what moses already had. God took the ordinary and used it for the miraculous. He took the daily and used it for the once-in-a-lifetime. He took the common and used it for the incredible.

what do you have in your hand? it may seem unworthy and incapable of greatness, but never underestimate what God can do! that challenge? that dream? that vision? that hope? that promise? God can do it USING WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE.

it wasn’t just moses…david took out goliath using his same old sling and stones. the prophet asked the widow to bring the jugs she had in her house for the overflow of oil. over 5000 people were fed with one boys totally inadequate lunch.

i can’t help but picture a mama holding her child, a banker signing a cheque, a taxi driver holding the steering wheel of a car, a chef holding a pot, a doctor holding a scalpel, a college student holding an ipad, a neighbor holding the door open to guests, a husband holding his wife… the daily, the usual, the “seemingly normal”…

what do you have in your hand? what is your “daily, common, familiar, ordinary”… don’t look around elsewhere for how God will use you and how the vision shall come to pass… look right there. don’t underestimate what God has given you. don’t underestimate what He can do with what you have in your hand.