Gò0dNews from the Pastor’s Desk
What’s In Your Hand?
“W
by Jeff Pitts
hat’s in your hand?” This is a simple question in an awkward moment of the biblical
story. It is used in delivering the plagues. It strikes the Red Sea and parts the water. It was most likely in Moses’ hands as Joshua fought the Amalekites. It strikes the rock
narrative. Yahweh speaking to Moses, the chosen deliverer
to bring forth water in the desert. This staff was a central
from the burning bush, offers this response to Moses’
character in the narrative of the Exodus. God used what
question. Moses, barefoot on the holy ground of God’s
was in his hands.
mountain, poses a question to confirm what he is hearing
This leads us back to the question: What is in your
the Lord ask is really real. So, Israel’s future deliverer asks
hand? I am fairly certain in the forty years of Moses’
the Lord, what if they don’t believe me when I said you sent me.
career as shepherd, he never looked at the stick in his
Insert God’s question: “What’s in your hand?”
hand and thought, “I bet this is going to be significant.”
It is a question I think we need to ask ourselves.
There was probably never a day that he looked at that
What is in our hand? In this particular biblical moment
shepherding staff and thought, “I bet this will strike the
Moses was holding a staff, a tool of his season of
sea and split it wide open.” I am fairly certain Moses
shepherding. A symbol of the life he is currently living
simply saw the value as not much more than being useful
and reminder of the princely life he has left behind. The
for the season of shepherding.
staff is a perpetual reminder of the life he left behind,
How often do we look at what is in our hands in one
the one he has lived since taking flight. In that moment,
season as insignificant when in the next, we find out it is
God demonstrates to Moses that what he has seen as
something God wants to use for His good? What do you
insignificant, God sees as useful.
hold that in this season you think is not useful in the hands
The Lord asks Moses to throw down the staff. Moses does so. The staff turns into a snake. God asks Moses
of God? God wants to use what is in your hands even when we
to grab the snake by the tail. It returns to a staff. This
see them as insignificant, even when we look at them as a
supernatural demonstration was to prove to the people
tool of simply the season we are currently living in. God
and Pharoah that God had certainly chosen Moses.
sees what is in your hand as a significant resource to help
Throughout the Exodus, this staff in the hands of
others believe. So, what is in your hands?
6 // August 2022
About The Author
Israel’s leaders would continue to be significant in the
Jeff Pitts and his wife Rachael are church planters in Cleveland, TN of The Collectives. He also co-hosts a leadership podcast called The Leadership Drip. He can usually be found sipping a cup of strong coffee.
