Tools of the Trade Pt. 1

“And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” 2 Corinthians 3:4-6

What Is That in Your Hand?

A compilation May 12, 2015

“Then the LORD said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied. The LORD said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the LORD said to him, ‘Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.’ So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.”—Exodus 4:2–41

If we are going to live a fruitful life, then it must begin with God asking, “What is that in your hand?” As precious as it may be, it takes our willingness to throw it down and surrender it completely to God. It might be something as important as Moses’ staff was to him, but in our hands, under our control, it can become a harbor for the snake.

At the burning bush, God commissioned Moses to free His people from Egyptian captivity, and He told him to throw his staff on the ground. The staff would have been indispensable to Moses, as it represented his livelihood. When he threw it to the ground, it immediately turned into a snake that Moses ran from. After forty years of herding sheep in the desert, Moses knew picking up a snake by the tail would be extremely dangerous because it leaves the head free to attack. But he trusted God, picked the snake up by the tail, and it turned back to the staff in his hand. What God was demonstrating to Moses was that He would look after the dangerous parts, and so it is with us when we surrender everything to God.

We may have worked long and hard at our jobs, but will we give them up to God? He may give it back as He gave Moses his staff back, but it then becomes “the job of God,” just as Moses’ staff became the “staff of God.” It will be the same job God gives us back, but under new management, new power. What about relationships, finances, studies, ambitions, and dreams? Will we drop them at the feet of God and allow Him to take control?

Surrendering completely to God does not mean everything will go smoothly. We will more than likely be taken to the front line of spiritual warfare, but the pharaohs will not frighten us; the Red Sea will not hold us back; the drought will not deter us; and the Amalekites will not defeat us, because we have in our hands what Moses had in his hand … “the staff of God,” through which many miracles were performed.—Charles Price

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“What is that in thy hand?” God said to Moses while he was alone in the wilderness tending his sheep. There was Moses sitting alone and dejected on the semi-desert mountainside watching a mere flock of sheep and wondering why he couldn’t be out saving his people from the slavery of Egypt, feeling like such a failure after 80 years of nothingness and seeming further from his goal than ever. He was just a shepherd when he could have been Pharaoh of Egypt! What a picture of defeat with only a wooden rod instead of a golden scepter!

But suddenly God spoke and simply said, “What is that in thy hand?” In effect Moses answered, “Only a wooden rod, Lord. Only a poor old shepherd’s crook and a few dumb sheep in the wilderness of a strange land among strangers. What could I do, Lord? (To be continued, Pt. 2)

1 NIV.





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