What Is in Your Hand? God Can Use What You Have
Devotional week 37
“Then the LORD asked him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A shepherd’s staff,’ Moses replied. ‘Throw it down on the ground,’ the LORD told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back. Then the LORD told him, ‘Reach out and grab its tail.’ So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand.”
Exodus 4:2–4 (NLT)
Have you ever looked at what you have and thought, “This is not enough”?
Perhaps you have a skill that does not seem particularly special, a job that feels ordinary, or resources that seem too small for what you believe God is asking you to do.
In Tent International, it is commonly said that the longest phase in a tentmaker’s journey is the decision-making phase. At this stage, many questions and a fear of the unknown come to the surface. Moses was no different.
Moses had walked in the palace courts of Egypt and probably sat among its leaders. One might therefore expect him to be bold and confident when God called him. But Moses was filled with questions. He was a fugitive. He wondered how Pharaoh would respond. He wondered whether his own people would accept him. He also questioned whether he had what it would take to carry out the task God had given him. God reassured Moses by showing him that the task would not depend on his ability alone. God would work through him.
Then God asked Moses a simple question:
“What is that in your hand?” A shepherd’s staff, he answered.
It was an ordinary tool that Moses carried as he went about his daily work. Yet God chose to use that ordinary staff to demonstrate His power.
When Moses threw it down, it became a snake. When he picked it up again as God instructed, it became a staff. That same staff would later be used as God worked through Moses, including when the Red Sea was parted (Exodus 14:16).
Here is the question to you again, What is that in your hand today?
For Moses, it was a shepherd’s staff. For us, it may be a ballpoint pen, a laptop, a business idea, a profession, a technical skill, a small business, or the experience we have gained over the years.
These things may seem ordinary because they are part of our everyday lives.
David had a sling and five smooth stones (1 Samuel 17:40). They were not impressive compared with the armour and weapons of Goliath. Yet David used what he had, and God used it to bring victory to Israel.
The same principle applies to our work. The workplace is not separate from our life with God. The skills we develop, the businesses we build, the people we work with and the responsibilities we carry are all opportunities to serve God and bless others.
God does not require us to wait until we have something extraordinary before He can use us. He asks us to faithfully offer what is already in our hands.
Reflect
What do you have in your hand today?
Look again at your skills, resources, opportunities and responsibilities. Ask God to show you how you can use what you already have for His purposes.
Pray
Dear Father, help me to see what I have in my hand. Teach me to recognize the opportunities, skills and resources You have given me, and show me how to place them in Your hands and use them for Your purpose. Amen.
A Tent International Devotional