What's in Your Hand?

Read

Exodus 4:1-5 “Moses answered, ‘What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you?’’ Then the LORD said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied. The LORD said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the LORD said to him, ‘Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.’ So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. ‘This,’ said the LORD, ‘is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.’”

Think

Moses was still not sure about this whole plan.

“What if they don't believe me?” he asked God. “What if they say you never talked to me?”

God asked Moses a surprising question. “What is that in your hand?”

Moses looked down. “A staff,” he said. A staff was a long wooden walking stick. Shepherds leaned on them and used them to guide their sheep. Nothing fancy. Just a stick.

“Throw it on the ground,” God said. So, Moses did. And that stick turned into a snake!

Do you know what Moses did next? He ran! The Bible says so. Moses, the man God picked to lead his people, took off running from a snake. It's okay to giggle. It is a funny picture.

Then God told Moses to grab the snake by the tail. That takes a lot of courage. Most people know you would NOT grab a snake by the tail! But Moses trusted God and reached out. The moment he grabbed it, the snake turned back into a stick.

God was showing Moses something important. God can use whatever you already have. Moses did not need a sword or a crown. He had a plain old stick. And in God's hands, that stick became something amazing.

God still uses what people have in their hands today. Imagine a boy named Eli whose neighbor, Mrs. Parker, broke her leg. Eli wanted to help, but he felt like he had nothing to give. He couldn't drive her anywhere. He couldn't cook her dinner. All he had was a box of markers and some paper.

So, Eli made her a card. He drew a picture of her cat and wrote, “Get better soon! I'm praying for you.” When Mrs. Parker opened it, she smiled so big. She stuck the card on her fridge and looked at it every day.

A box of markers. A plain wooden stick. Small things. But God loves to use small things in big ways.

What is in your hand? Maybe you are good at drawing. Maybe you can make people laugh. Maybe you are a good listener or a fast runner. Maybe you just have a kind smile.

Whatever it is, give it to God. He knows exactly what to do with it. God's got it.

Apply

Use what you have – Pick one thing you are good at or one thing you have, like drawing, helping, or sharing a snack. Use it today to make someone else's day better.

Pray

God, thank you that you can use anything. Here is what's in my hand. Please use it to help others and show them your love. In Jesus' name. Amen.