Articles
What Is in Your Hand
What Is in Your Hand
The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, A staff.”—Exodus 2:2
We have before us one of the many great questions found in the Bible. God’s people are slaves in the land of Egypt and the time has come when God is going to deliver them from that bondage. God has chosen Moses to be the one to lead the people out of Egypt but Moses, feeling inadequate to take on this task, says “they will not believe me.” To this the Lord asks this simple question, “what is that in your hand” to which Moses replies, “a staff.” That which was just a stick of some kind in Moses' hand when placed in the hand of God became the staff of God (Exodus 4:20) that by the power of God became the force that brought the plagues on Egypt, divided the Red Sea and brought water from a rock.
As I think about this event in the life of Moses, the thought occurs to me that our God can take whatever we are willing to put into his hands and make them into something that will be great and mighty. I think about David who once held in his hands only a sling and five smooth stones as he went out to fight the giant, Goliath (1 Samuel 17:20-51). I hear David as he says to Goliath, “you come to me with spear, sword and javelin but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel” and with that said, he placed a stone in the sling and slew Goliath. In the hands of God, that sling and those stones became the force that put the Philippian army to flight.
I think about a little boy who had only 5 loaves and 2 fish (Matthew 14:12-21). In the hands of that little boy nothing more than a simple lunch just for him but when placed into the hands of the Lord, that simple little lunch fed 5000 men besides women and children with 12 baskets left over. On another occasion 7 loaves and a few small fish placed into the Lord’s hand fed 4000 men besides women and children.
Sometimes I fear that we may look at ourselves and begin to think that we are just small, weak, frail, insignificant individuals with very little to offer the Lord. Yet we hold our life in our hands and both our present and future life are going to be what we make them to be. Time is a precious gift that has been given to us and it is priceless. Time is our greatest friend or enemy, depending upon how we use it. We hold influence in our hands and it will bless us or bring harm to us. We have talents and abilities in our hands that we will one day be held accountable for as to how we have or have not used them.
I submit to you that if we will place our life, our time, our influence, and our abilities into the hand of the Lord with the attitude, “Lord, here am I, use me”, he can and will make our life beautiful, wonderful and useful. Folks, this is not a matter of what can I do; it is a matter of what can God do through me. If we, without reservation, willingly place ourself into the hands of God, the results will without a doubt surprise us with some marvelous results.
Charles Hicks, Gallatin Tennessee
