Whats In Your Hand?
So the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"
Exodus 4:2 (NKJV)
What were you doing forty years ago?
Can you even remember?
Were you even alive?
Forty years is a long time!
And it's the amount of time that God allowed Moses to experience life on the backside of the desert before calling him to deliver His people from their bondage in Egypt
Forty years of chasing stray sheep and taking care of animals that can't really take care of themselves. And as a shepherd, Moses must have constantly carried around something that was a true tool of his trade...a rod.
One day, the familiar routine was interrupted by a strange sight, a burning bush. God appeared and gave Moses a mission, which he immediately tried to turn down.
"Who am I to do this?
Who will I say sent me?"
Moses was not excited about any of this because he was comparing the challenge that lay ahead to his life up to that point.
"I'm just a shepherd, how can I possibly do that?"
So God does something interesting. He asks Moses "What is in your hand?" "A rod," Moses answers.
The rod represented the simple shepherd's life Moses had led. But God told him to throw it on the ground. And the rod that had been such a predictable fixture in his life suddenly and miraculously became a serpent!
This signaled the start of something new, a supernatural calling and way of life. The rod would still be there, but its use would be completely different.
"What is in your hand?"
It was God's way of getting Moses to see that even the most ordinary things in our lives can become extraordinary when used in His service.
Moses was guilty of limiting what God could do with his life, and we can be guilty of doing the same, "But I'm just a ..."
Don't limit what God can do with your life.
What is in your hand?
God can do something extraordinary with it!
Discuss God’s desire to use your talents and gifts.
What is it that belongs to you that you sense God wants to use for His glory?
Dig into Exodus 4:1–5.
- What challenges did Moses face in this passage?
- How did he respond to the assignment he was given?
- What was the purpose behind God’s display of supernatural power?
Decide to pray for the members of your group.
Ask God to give all of you a willing heart to use your gifts, talents, and abilities for God’s good purposes.
