Exodus 4:2 And the Lord said unto him, “What is in thine hand?” And he said a rod.
This was Moses and he had just been confronted with the burning bush and the question of whether he had what it took to do what God was telling him to do. Moses was full of doubts.
But God….
He was questioning whether God had made a good, thoughtful choice in choosing him.
Moses had a lot to consider but God was not backing down just because Moses had his excuses for not being able to do the task at hand.
God redirected Moses from his complaints and excuses and asked him this question. “What’s in your hand?”
Now Moses had to look at his hand, his brain was thinking on this. “What is in my hand?” All his other thoughts had fallen away. The focus had changed, and it would be changed some more as God had Moses do a few things with the stick. God worked His handiwork to show him he would not be alone in this task. He had the power of the I AM with him. Moses was duly impressed but he returned to his weaknesses and shortcomings in verses 10-11, and said, “I am not eloquent… I am slow of speech, and slow of tongue.” (remember that Moses studied in the Pharaoh’s courts and had the finest education as if he were the Pharaoh’s grandson.)
Verse 11: And the Lord said unto him, “Who hath made man’s mouth? Or Who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord?”
Mic drop.
Who can shut up a whiner quicker than anyone? God!
But Moses still wanted some other assurance so God asked in verse 14: And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, “Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.”
Moses really did not think this through. God has appeared and asked him to do something huge.
GOD!
Moses had some idea of who God was, I mean he knew about the Hebrews and his sister and mom were a small part of his life when he was young. Surely, he heard about God! Here he stood refusing to be used because he had had failures in his past and didn’t want the responsibility for this project. He might fail! In fact, he’s sure he will. The Hebrews didn’t know who he is, and if they remembered they might want to kill him. Also the Egyptians would want to kill him. He fled for his life years ago for murdering the Egyptian soldier! Neither people would listen to this lowly old shepherd now! After all what had he been doing to prepare for this day? Nothing! Hiding out! Not working on his voice and elocution skills. He hadn’t even been around people most of his days! Now he was asked to be a leader; to come against Pharaoh! To take the workforce away from Egypt so they can worship a God that the Egyptians do not know. And don’t want to know.
From Moses’ point of view that this didn’t seem a good fit for him. But that was not what God saw. And what God saw was more important because He could behold His plan for saving His people! The Alpha the Omega, The Beginning and The End!
Moses really didn’t know much about God. Moses knew a lot about himself. He had spent way too much time thinking about what he could not do, and not enough time thinking about what God could do.
God had shown Moses some miracles to prove that he would not be alone. He sent his brother to help him. This was a big miracle in itself! Did Aaron just decide, "I want to go visit Moses my brother?" There hadn’t been family communication recorded during this time. How did Aaron know where Moses was? So many questions left unanswered.
Let’s get back to: “what’s in your hand?” Has God put a project, purpose, task, or ministry on your heart? If it feels too big, Moses can relate to you. And you can probably relate to Moses. But God asks, “What’s in your hand?”
For me, I’m laying in bed as I write this. I have a physical issue that left me in a prone position most of the day. So, what’s in my hand? I have access to a computer that my loving son bought me for my birthday last year because I mentioned I think I need to be writing. So here I am laying down and writing about What’s in my hand. God has put me on my back so I could share His questions with you.
Who made man’s mouth? That’s pretty straight forward and easy to answer. God. So, what does that mean to you? If God made you and me, He already knows we don’t have what it takes to do great things that help or save people. We can barely do anything for ourselves if we are honest about it. But that doesn’t change the fact that God made us, our mouths, our hands, He can use what he made for his glory, can’t He? Should we stand in his way? Should we believe otherwise and doubt His competence and confidence in Himself to get a job done? He takes pleasure in using His creation. He takes pleasure in using the weak things of this world to confound the wise. I wonder if anyone in Pharaoh’s court recognized Moses as the man that was raised in the Palace. If they did, they would have laughed him to scorn for trying this new stunt to take the Hebrew slaves away for a day in the park!
But God.
God knew what He was doing. Why do we find it so hard to trust Him with our lives? Yes, it was an impossible task He was asked of Moses but this is GOD we are talking about! Why do we doubt God? Why do we think, “He’s got the wrong person for the job?!”
After all we are talking about God! And yes, it says his anger was kindled against Moses. Do you blame God? But He did not kill him and find another. He loved him. The thing that tells me that God was loving on Moses is found as you go through the rest of the paragraph. God kindly continues his instructions. Yes, He provides Moses with Aaron as a spokesman. But the one thing that God does that shows Moses that he really loves him is in verse 19: And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, “Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.”
God knew that Moses was fearful. He ran away 40 years ago so he could preserve his life. And now he can confidently go back and show his face and no one in Egypt will look at him with threatening eyes. For a man, whose life had been driven by fear, this was great and welcome news! It bolstered his confidence so much that he brought his wife and children with him on this trip.
So, what’s in your hand? Who made your mouth? And is not God able to supply your need?
Take some time to think about this today.
Leave me a comment, or any thoughts you'd like to share.
I’m so glad you can see it. Sometimes when I write I try to get what He shows me across in writing. Which my writing sometimes seems so inadequate. I’m glad to hear that you can see my it! My goal in writing is not information but transformation! I love hearing back from you! It urges me on. I really believe there is so much to be learned from the Word of God, that we are only scratching the surface! Thank you for encouraging me and I’m so glad that I can encourage you in your walk with the Lord! God is good!!!!
You are welcome! It has opened my eyes to see and look deeper into the scripture foe how much God loved Moses and thus me! I love that God relieves Moses’ fears about going back, so sweetly and tenderly. He is so patient with Moses. So I know he will be patient with me! And you! And everyone that loves it Him and that are called according to his purpose.
Wow!! I’m always amazed at your writing. It always makes me think deeper about God and His plans for me. In this post God takes away any excuses Moses has and gives him the ability to be obedient. What a loving God we serve! I ask myself, what is in my hand today? What has God set before me to do? For I know He has given me everything I need to be obedient.
Thank you Monica.
Monica, I love you insight on this today. God has given us all a gift and He is the one that provides what is needed for us to use it. Such and amazing, loving God.