What Is That In Your Hand?
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied.” - Exodus 4:2
Break It Down
“What is that in your hand?”
God wasn’t asking for information. He was inviting Moses to see the ordinary differently. What looks natural becomes supernatural when placed in God’s hands.
“A staff”
To Moses, it was just a shepherd’s tool. But in God’s plan, it became the instrument of miracles, turning into a serpent, parting the Red Sea, striking the rock for water. God’s question is about availability, not adequacy. The staff was common, but once surrendered, it carried divine power.
The principle. God doesn’t first ask what you don’t have. He asks, “What do you already carry?”
What Does This Mean?
When God asks you this question, He’s not pointing out your lack, He’s highlighting what you already possess.
Gifts – Talents and abilities that may feel too ordinary to matter.
Experiences – Even your wilderness seasons, your pain, and your past struggles can be redeemed in His hands.
Relationships – The people God has placed around you are not accidental. Influence, family, and community are part of what you carry.
Responsibilities – The roles you currently hold of parent, worker, friend, are platforms God can use.
Resources – What you already own, even if small, can become seed for something greater.
Insights – Wisdom, perspective, and convictions gained through walking with God.
God’s question is always relational. He’s not asking what you will find, but what you will surrender.
Reflection
What is in your hand right now that you’ve overlooked as “ordinary”?
Where have past experiences equipped you to serve in ways others can’t?
What relationships or responsibilities might God be highlighting as places to trust Him?
What’s one area you need to stop minimizing and start offering back to God?
Related Scriptures
2 Corinthians 12:9 – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
1 Peter 4:10 – “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
John 6:9 – The boy’s lunch of loaves and fish seemed small, but in Jesus’ hands, it fed thousands.
Romans 12:1 – “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, this is your true and proper worship.”
Prayer
Lord, open my eyes to see what You’ve already placed in my hand. Forgive me for minimizing the gifts, experiences, and resources You’ve entrusted to me. Today, I surrender them back to You. Take what seems ordinary and use it for Your extraordinary purposes. May my life, relationships, and responsibilities become instruments for Your glory. Amen.