52 Weeks: #18 What's in Your Hand?

May 02, 2015 • Leave a Comment

I can so much related to Moses. While the big screen may depict him as this magnificent, bigger-than-life hero, he started out as a pretty timid and unwilling participant in God's plan.

As he first encounters God at the infamous burning bush, he is pretty intrigued by the moment. However, once God starts outlining His plan for Moses, we see the reluctance emerge. In the midst of that dialogue between God and man, God asks Moses a rather unexpected question.

"What's in your hand?"

Moses, being a shepherd, had the usual tool of the trade, his staff. Now there wasn't anything overly special about the staff that we can tell from the narrative, rather just an ordinary shepherd's staff, probably made out of wood.

God says, "Throw it down."

So Moses throws it down in obedience to God's directions.

Obviously through God's amazing power, the staff turns into a snake.

And Moses' reaction to God's amazing feat?

Moses ran from it.

Here is where the story gets interesting....and personal. Suppose you were standing face-to-face with the God Almighty and He asks you what is in your hand. Then He commands you to give it over to His service (aka "throw it on the ground"). Would you obediently hand it over?

And what if God then turned it into something that scared you? Would you run from God's plan? Yes, God, I agreed to hand this over to you, but I had no idea You'd turn it into something scary!

Would we have the courage to approach and touch the scary thing that God has in His plan? God told Moses to go back to the snake and grab it by the tail. Moses faithfully obeyed and the serpent transformed into the former staff. Only now, the staff was more than just a stick. Now Moses' staff was able to perform a useful purpose in God's plan as God retained in the stick the ability to return to the serpent form as a sign from God. Because of God's touch, the tool that Moses surrendered to God's use became something even better than Moses could imagine.

So what's in your hand? Will you give it to God? And if so, will you run from His plan? Or approach, touch and accept His plan.

I asked a few friends what was in their hands. Here are things they shared. Perhaps these can shed some light on some ways we might learn from God's interactions with Moses. What would you be willing to surrender to God?