Title: What's in Your Hand
what is in your hand
Through today's text, we can realize who God is.
1. God does everything according to his plan.
God led Moses' life according to God's plan. Likewise, none of you have ever been born into this world by chance. All were born into this world in God's plan and are living in this world.
2. God prepares people in advance who will be used in His work.
Moses was born at a time when Pharaoh commanded that all Israelite children be killed. During this time, he miraculously survived and became a prince of Egypt. And after 40 years of training from God in the wilderness of Midian, he did a great job of freeing the Israelites from slavery.
3. God leads even mistakes for good.
Moses once tried to liberate Israel by using his status as an Egyptian prince, his power, and his Egyptian learning. But he ended up murdering. God made Moses, who was sent to the wilderness of Midian, to be trained as the leader of the nation of Israel due to his shortcomings and mistakes. God guides our mistakes and shortcomings for good.
Today's text is about God calling Moses, who was suffering in the wilderness of Midian, and making him a leader to liberate the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. In Exodus 3, God met Moses on a thorn bush that burns but does not disappear. While Moses was looking at the thorns in wonder, God came in the midst of the flame.
Moses rejected God's call five times. At that time, he was a poor shepherd who had been tending sheep for 40 years in the wilderness of Midian. You might think that no one will recognize Moses, and no one will follow him. So Moses kept making excuses and rejected God's call.
However, God had Moses perform a miracle in Exodus 4 to make him have faith in God. God asked Moses, “What do you have in your hand?” Moses replied, “It is a staff.” Then God commanded, “Throw your staff to the ground!” Then Moses' staff became a serpent. Then God again commanded Moses, “Grab the serpent’s tail.” Then Moses grabbed the serpent's tail, and it became a staff again.
We learn some important lessons from God's question, "What do you have in your hand?"
1. To be content with the staff in our hands.
Moses was once a prince of the great empire of Egypt. He possessed all the wealth and glory of a great empire that could rule the world. Many respected him and he was an honorable man. But now it has been reduced to a humble shepherd. All he had left was the poor body of an 80-year-old man and the status of a shepherd who barely made a living in the house of his father-in-law.
All that was left of Moses was a staff, a dry stick. Moses was a staff that both tended sheep and depended on himself. In this situation, God asked Moses, “What do you have in your hand?” Today, we, too, are just ordinary citizens who do not have so much material, not so good health, neither high honor nor authority, nor outstanding talents.
A lot of times we think wrong. They are often dissatisfied with what is in their hands and are often indifferent. And they often envy what others have that is not in their hands. So, there are many times when we live with dissatisfaction with ourselves or lament.
But we must listen to the voice of the Lord, “What do you have in your hand?” When we listen to the voice of the Lord, when we think about the grace that God has bestowed upon us, we realize that there are so many. And those who thank God for what is in their hands will lead a happy life. And we can overcome any tribulation and trial with sufficient strength.
There are things that are bothering you right now. Just as God gave the Apostle Paul a thorn and used him in a greater way, we too will be able to live a more holy and godly life because of those painful things. Just as the Apostle Paul was able to be content with all the circumstances God gave us (Philippians 4:11-12), we should be able to be content with whatever circumstances we are in.
Are there people who look down on their current situation and feel discouraged? Are you in the midst of frustration and despair? Then think carefully about what God has given you. You still have more than you have lost. And you will discover it and be grateful for the things you have received from God.
2. Even if it is insignificant, if God is with us, it becomes the power to do amazing things.
Now all that was left of Moses' hand was a staff, a dry stick. But the stick became an amazing stick. In the Bible, Moses performed 26 miracles with the staff. That staff became the staff of God. (Exodus 4:20) When the staff, which had been merely a way of keeping sheep and living, became the staff of God, Moses took the staff and freed the Israelites from slavery. did He made a way in the Red Sea and made water flow out of the midst of the wilderness. When he became the staff of God, he was able to perform amazing miracles.
Are your possessions nothing more than insignificant like the staff of Moses? Do you consider yourself worthless and incompetent? Do not worry. When God is with you, you become a person with the power to perform amazing miracles.
When God was with David, a stone of no value knocked down General Goliath. Also, when God was with Samson, he was able to kill 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. No matter how insignificant it may seem, when God is with us, it can be God's staff that can perform miracles.
3. Through Moses' obedience, God made worthless things become God's staff.
When God told him to throw his staff, Moses obeyed God. He did not disobey God or object at all. He threw unconditionally. When Moses threw down his staff in obedience to God's command, it turned into a serpent and attacked Moses.
Also, Moses obeyed God when God told him to hold the tail. Most people will run away without picking up the snake's neck. Also, people who usually catch snakes hold the snake's neck for safety. However, when God commanded Moses to catch the tail rather than the snake's neck, Moses went against his common sense, but caught the tail according to God's command.
Although you are insignificant and incompetent, the secret to being used as God's staff is obedience. You have to obey even if you don't have anything or have learned anything. Even if it does not conform to your common sense, you must obey it. Only then can you be used as the staff of God. Conversely, all the misfortunes that come to us today come from not obeying God's Word.
Dear saints, we are all lacking. We are all incompetent. We are as insignificant beings as the dry sticks in Moses' hand. However, when you obey God's voice asking, "What is in your hand?" and praise and give thanks for what you have, I believe that you will live a great life that, like Moses, will be used greatly as God's staff. .