What Is That In Your Hand?

What Is That In Your Hand?

By Joe F. Walenciak, Ph.D. 

A sermon shared at Iglesia Bautista Cristo es el Camino, Guatemala City, March 2024 

Good morning, and greetings from many brothers and sisters in Arkansas and at John Brown University.  It is a pleasure to be with you again this year, and I look forward to a week of serving God together here in beautiful Guatemala.  I am thankful that our team of students and friends have the opportunity to know you and that you also have the opportunity to know them.  It is a privilege for me to be here with all of you.  May God use us this week for His purpose.

One year ago, I had the opportunity to stand here and share some words that I believe God placed upon my heart.  I spoke about purpose and the story of David.  David was a great king, a humble man who loved, trusted, and served God faithfully.  He made big mistakes, but he was still called “a man after God’s own heart.”  His story helps us understand that imperfect people can be used by a perfect God.  Acts 13:36 says, “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep.”  My challenge last year was to ask that question, “what is God’s purpose in my generation?”  Our purpose happens with the next person we see.  And the person after that.  When we walk out of that door, we are fulfilling our purpose with every person that God places in our path.  Let’s not get so overwhelmed by the bigness of the world’s problems that we cannot see God’s purpose right in front of us today.  And, like David, may we serve God’s purpose in our generation.

Today, I would like to talk about how God equips us to serve His purpose.  God calls normal working people to do His work, like Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John, who were fishermen.  Luke was a doctor.  Aquila and Priscilla were tent makers.  Matthew was a tax collector.  One of the first groups to hear about the birth of Jesus from an army of angels was a group of common shepherds.  Many of the great leaders of the Scripture started their lives as common workers.  Moses, David, and Joseph worked as shepherds before God called them to change the world.  Most did not have money, privilege, or influence.  They were honest, decent, hardworking, loyal people.

Let’s talk about Moses.  You know his story.  In Exodus 2, we read about Pharoah’s decree that all male Hebrew babies be killed.  Moses’ mother placed him in a basket and set him afloat in the Nile River.  He was discovered and adopted by Pharoah’s daughter and raised in the palace of Pharoah where he enjoyed many privileges.  As he grew older, he became aware of his Hebrew heritage, and one day when Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, he became angry and killed the Egyptian.  Fearing for his life, Moses fled to the land of Midian where he met a priest named Jethro and married Jethro’s daughter, Zipporah.  Moses became a simple shepherd, living in the wilderness, taking care of Jethro’s sheep.  And then one day, something happened.  Exodus 3:1-3 tells the story.

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.  There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.  Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.  So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

 

Moses, the simple shepherd in the wilderness, had an encounter with God.  God said to Moses:

“I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.  So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.  And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.   So now, go.  I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:7-10)

 

Have you ever been told that you have to do something and had absolutely no idea what to do or how to do it?  That is a moment of surprise, confusion, and fear.  If Moses had been speaking to a man, he might have had a very quick, clear answer.  But Moses was speaking to God.  Maybe he took a deep breath and organized his thoughts.  Then he said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”  God told Moses, “I will be with you.”  This began a dialogue where God told Moses to explain this to the elders of Israel and then to Pharoah, but Moses still clearly had his doubts.  Moses said, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them that ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’  Then what shall I tell them?”  Again, God gave Moses very clear instructions. 

But Moses still had one more doubt and asked a final question.  “What if they don’t believe me or listen to me, and what if they say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’?”

Have you ever asked God those questions?  “Who am I to do this?  What authority do I have?  What if people don’t believe me or accept me?”  I am sure that Moses was thinking about that moment when he would be standing in front of Pharoah, putting his finger in Pharoah’s face, and saying, “God told me to tell you to set His people free!”  Moses was probably imagining everything that could go wrong.  Wouldn’t it be easier if God just sent an army of angels to force Pharoah to release the people?  Or maybe God could just transport all of the Israelites instantly to a new home.  Perhaps God could transform Moses into a superhero.  Maybe Iron Man or the Incredible Hulk might have a better chance of convincing Pharoah. 

But God did not do those things.  He chose Moses—a simple shepherd living in exile in the wilderness.  God already told Moses what to do and how to do it, and he already promised Moses that He would be with him.  So when Moses asked that final question, “What if they don’t believe me,” God answered with a question of his own.  God asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?”  And Moses answered, “A staff.”

What is a shepherd’s staff?  It is a traditional tool of a shepherd.  It was used to guide and direct the sheep, to fight off predators, to rescue sheep in danger, to separate sheep for counting or inspection, and to provide support for shepherd as he walked through challenging terrain.  Psalm 23 shows us the symbolism of the shepherd and the staff.  “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”  The Psalm goes on to tell how the Lord’s staff brings comfort and assurance to the psalmist.  What did Moses have in his hand?  He had a common tool that every shepherd would have, just like a builder would have a hammer or a fisherman would have a net. 

Moses might have been confused.  He was having this deep, terrifying conversation with God about confronting Pharoah and leading the Israelites out of slavery.  He finally asked the big question.  “What if they don’t believe me?”  Instead of a profound, reassuring answer, God responded, “What is that in your hand.”  I wonder if Moses may have paused.  Why is God changing the subject?  Surely the Creator of the Universe and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knows what a shepherd’s staff is.  “God, what if they don’t believe me”?  “Hey, Moses, what is that in your hand?”  “Well, God, it is my shepherd’s staff.”

You know the story.  God told Moses to throw the staff on the ground, and when he did, it became a serpent.  Exodus 4 says that Moses was afraid and ran from it, but God told him to reach down and pick it up.  He did, and it once again became a staff.  God told Moses to use that as a sign to convince Pharoah, and He even gave Moses more signs and then sent Aaron, Moses’s brother, to speak for him.  Moses was clearly afraid and reluctant, but God answered his questions and addressed his doubts.

Let’s look at that moment again.  Moses asked God, “What if they don’t believe me?”  What was Moses thinking?  “What if they laugh at me?”  “What if they think I’m some kind of fool?”  “What if I bring shame to my family?”  “What if they arrest me and put me in jail, or execute me?”  I wonder what kind of response Moses was expecting from God…something really profound and compelling.  And I wonder why God asked Moses what he had in his hand.  After all, God could have just said, “Moses, throw your staff on the ground.”  But God took a moment to ask, “what do you have in your hand?”  And Moses basically said, “Well, God, I have this big stick…the same big stick that all shepherds use to do their work.”

Consider this.  I wonder if God was making a point with Moses.  “Moses, look in your hand.  You already have everything you need to do what I’ve called you to do.  I will add the miracles when I need to, but you already have what you need to do this.”  Samson used a donkey’s jawbone to kill a thousand Philistines.  Gideon used trumpets, torches, and empty jars to defeat the Midianites.  David picked up some rocks from the ground and killed a giant.  They all had simple tools…and the promise that God was with them.  Moses had his shepherd’s staff…and God’s promise.

Do you ever feel like Moses?  God calls us to do some pretty big jobs.  To love Him and each other.  To spread the Gospel and make disciples.  To help widows and orphans.  To forgive and be generous.  To push against the sin and brokenness of the world.  Do you ever find yourself thinking, “Who am I to do this?  What authority do I have?  What if they don’t believe me?  God, I’m not the right person.  You should send someone else.”  What if I put myself into that dialogue?

 

“Joe, I’ve got a job for you.”

“But God, who am I to do this?”

“Joe, you are the one who I have sent, and I will be with you.”

“But God, what authority do I have?”

“Well, Joe, tell them the God of the universe sent you.”

“OK, God, but what if they don’t believe me?”

“Joe, what is in your hand?  I have given you all that you need.  Trust me to do my part.”

 

What would you say if God asked you today what is in your hand?  The world tells us that we are not good enough, but God says that you have what you need.  What is in your hand today?  And what can we learn from this story?  Here are four thoughts. 

First, God gives us gifts and abilities to use.  What we need is in our hands.  2 Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”  God places what we need in our hands.

Second, God places things in our hands for His purposes in His Kingdom.  Romans 12:6 tells us that “we have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.”  The passage goes on to say that we use those gifts for the Kingdom.  1 Peter 4:10 tells us, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”  And Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  Our gifts…what God has put into our hands…are for serving others and building God’s Kingdom.  We have purpose.

Third, God uses us where we are.  Esther was the Jewish Queen of Persia, and because of her position, she could ask King Xerxes to save the Jewish people.  When she hesitated, her cousin, Mordecai, reminded her that, “you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.”  God allows us to be where we need to be to use our gifts for His Kingdom.  1 Corinthians 7:17 reminds us, “Each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them."  And Colossians 3:23-24 tells us, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

Fourth and finally, God uses common people in uncommon ways.  The stories of David, Moses, Gideon, Rahab, and others are examples of simple people who used what God placed in their hands to change the world.  Jesus condemned the privileged leaders of the day for their hypocrisy.  He surrounded himself with a group of fishermen.  He spent time in the streets with people who were physically, emotionally, and spiritually broken, and then he used those common people to change the world.

My question for you today is this.  What do you have in your hand?  Remember that God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, has placed in your hands the tools and gifts you need to serve in His kingdom.  Just as He used the ordinary staff of Moses to liberate a nation, God has entrusted each of us with unique and purposeful gifts.

In our hands, we can be a beacon of His light, a vessel of love, and an instrument of grace.  Do not underestimate the significance of what God has put in your hands, for He has given you these gifts (like Queen Esther) for such a time as this.  Your talents, your compassion, your skills, your personality – they are not mere coincidence, but divine gifts waiting for the moments that they will bless others.

Let’s remember and embrace the truth that God made us with a purpose.  It not our job, our education, our money, our friends, our influence, or anything else that determines our purpose or our worth.  We have value because we are God’s children.  We have purpose, because God gave us one.  Again, in the words of Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."  The hands that hold these gifts were made by God and are guided by God, and the opportunities to serve in His Kingdom are abundant.

I have homework for you.  You are a remarkable group of people.  Today, and in the days to come, I want you to tell each other what you see in their hands.  We need to hear this.  Sometimes we see the worst in ourselves and we doubt our adequacy.  Like Moses, “Who am I to do this.”  I challenge all of us to be intentional about a ministry of encouragement.  After our service today, go to one person and tell them the gifts you see in their hands.  And then go to another person.  And just keep doing that.  Who are we to do this?  We are the ones that the Lord has equipped and sent.

Your hands, and what they hold, are part of God’s intricate Kingdom tapestry.  Each of us may be one thread in the fabric, but every thread…every one of us…is part of God’s beautiful design.  So, what is that in your hand?  Thank you!