What’s in your hand?
(I wrote this a few years ago, but thought it appropriate for what we are going through today.)
I didn’t want to get out of bed. Even though I didn’t have a reason to be depressed, depression had hit hard. Blessings abounded, yet one thing made me sad, one thing I longed for but didn’t have.
Picking up my Bible, I read again where Moses first encountered God in the desert, where God called Moses to return to Egypt and lead the Israelites to freedom. Moses wasn’t confident in his own abilities, and wasn’t sure the Israelites would believe God had sent him (see Exodus 3 – 4).
“The Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ And he said, ‘A staff’” (Exodus 4:2, NASB) Moses held a simple shepherd’s staff, only a piece of wood, surely, he didn’t have what was needed to go against Pharaoh and the armies of Egypt. However, God used Moses, and that simple piece of wood, in mighty ways to show God’s power.
Far too often I’ve thought I didn’t have what I needed, or know the right connections, or have the speaking ability, writing ability, ability in any ability, and I wasn’t completing anything because I was so busy thinking I was missing something and in need of something. Ack!
Oswald Chambers wrote, “The first habit to form is the habit of realizing the provision God has made.”
Just as God asked Moses to look at what was in his hand, I need to open my eyes to see what God has already given.
Hmmm, so what is in my hand? I believe God has called me to write, that talent, that gifting, came from God, but I need to use what God has given. Instead of looking at my shortcomings, or anything I think I’m lacking, I need instead to focus on God and allow Him to use me in the ways He chooses.
Nothing is impossible for God; He is faithful to complete the work He began in us. It’s not our might or our power but by His Spirit, giving strength, equipping, and empowering. He uses the weak to show His might, and He gives us all we need to complete what we are called to complete.
“The most healthy state of a Christian is always to be empty of self and constantly depending upon the Lord for provision; to be consistently poor in self and rich in Jesus; to be weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great exploits.” ~ C. H. Spurgeon
What has God given you? What is in your hand? Be who God created you to be, do what God called you to do, live, truly live your life in Christ and allow His power to work in you and through you.
What task do you feel God has asked you to complete?
Read the following verses. Where is power in the Christian life found? What kind of power is available to us as Christians?
“We have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. … The power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think.” ~ 2 Corinthians 4:7, Ephesians 3:20 (NET)
Now, when you think about the task you have been given, where will you find the power needed, and how much power will be given?
(Luke 1:37, Philippians 1:6, Zechariah 4:6, Isaiah 40:29, 1 Corinthians 1:27, Philippians 4:19, Colossians 2:9-10)
From We Were Meant for Paradise, by Lisa Buffaloe, https://amzn.to/3dYVtcw
Photo of sweet hubby’s hand by Lisa Buffaloe