One day, when I was feeling particularly dizzy, tired, and discouraged, this question popped into my mind. “What do you have in your hand?”
Where did that come from? Then I remembered: it was a question God asked Moses.
Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” [Moses] replied.
Exodus 4:2 NIV
God went on to use that staff to prove Himself to Moses, to the Israelite elders … and to Pharaoh. In God’s hand, an ordinary stick became a confirmation! [Exodus 4]
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I remembered another story. the widow of a godly man was in terrible trouble. The creditors were coming to take her children as slaves to pay off her husband’s debts.
Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you?
Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said,
“except a small jar of olive oil.”
2 Kings 4:2 NIV
God used that small jar of oil to fill so many containers that the widow could pay off the debts and have enough money left to live on. In God’s hand, a little oil became an opportunity!
[2 Kings 4:1-7]
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Then, of course, there is this story.
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip,
“Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”
He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages
to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up,
“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish,
but how far will they go among so many?”
John 6:5-9 NIV
Good question. Yet Jesus used a boy’s shared lunch to feed more than 5,000 people. In God’s hand, loaves and fish became a feast! There were even leftovers! [John 6:5-13]
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“God doesn’t need a lot to do a lot.
All David had was five stones.
And all David used was one.”
Tony Evans
[1 Samuel 17:40-50]
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So, what do I have in my hand? A confirmation?
What do I have in my house? An opportunity?
What do I have to share? A feast?
All these – and more.
How about you?
Thanks for reminding me.