Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied.

Exodus 4:2

In the sweltering heat of the Sinai desert, Moses was anxious and troubled about his ability to lead the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt.  He kept coming up with excuse after excuse regarding his weaknesses, until God asks, “What is that in your hand?”  God’s question shifts Moses’ attention away from his anxieties to what God had put right in front of him.  God showed Moses, that he could use an ordinary staff to perform miracles for unbelieving people.  As Moses followed God’s directive, his own trust in God increased, and so did the miracles that God was able to perform through him.

Dear friends, you may be doubtful about your own ability to do something that God has called you to do.  You may feel that perhaps someone else, with better education, more talent, more experience or more money should be the one to do something about a certain situation.  But that person isn’t the one reading this devotion right now, you are.  God is speaking to you, and he is saying, “What is that in your hand?”  God wants to show you that he can make the ordinary, extraordinary; he wants to show you that he can make what seems little, much.

Samson trusted him with a donkey jawbone, and he was able to slay a thousand men(Judges 15:16), the unnamed boy trusted him with five loaves and two fish and he was able to feed five thousand people, with twelve baskets left over (John 6: 1-14), the widow of Zarephath trusted him with a handful of flour and a jar of olive oil and she and her son never hungered again (1 Kings 17: 7-16).  David trusted him with a sling and a stone and he was able to slay Goliath (1 Samuel 17).  What are you going to trust him with?

As you give God, the ordinary possession in your hand, may your trust in him continue to grow, and may the miracles he performs through you continue to increase.

Loving God, I give you not just my possessions, but all of me.  Use whatever you will, for your purposes.  I own nothing.  I am merely a steward.  May all glory and honor be yours both now and forever more.  Amen.