"WHAT IS THAT IN YOUR HAND?"

[Pastor Bayo Afolaranmi]

Dearly Beloved,

"WHAT IS THAT IN YOUR HAND?"

"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" (Exodus 4:2-3 NIV).

Sometimes, we all feel inadequate, insufficient, incapable, unqualified and helpless to do something while in actual fact, the resources to do such thing are at our disposal. Moses found himself in a similar situation. How? God called him to go and lead the Israelites out of the land of slavery. He was trying to dodge the divine assignment by giving unconvincing excuses. He looked down on himself. Then God asked him, "What is that in your hand?" Moses must have thought: "Of what use would an ordinary staff be in fulfilling such an enormous task?" However, the "ordinary" staff became an extraordinary instrument when he surrendered it to God.

The disciples of Jesus Christ were also in a dilemma. They had to feed over five thousand people in a solitary place. How would they do it? "Then Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up. 'There's a youngster here with five barley loaves and a couple of fish! BUT WHAT GOOD IS THAT WITH THIS ENTIRE MOB?'" (John 6:8-9 TLB). How could they feed such a large number of people with a boy's lunch? They never saw God above their inadequacies. Nevertheless, Jesus fed the people with that "little" food, and there were twelve baskets full of the leftover!

In the same way, a prophet's widow was about to lose her two sons to creditors. She ran to Prophet Elisha for assistance. "Elisha replied to her, 'How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?' 'Your servant has nothing there at all,' she said, 'EXCEPT A LITTLE OIL'" (2 Kings 4:2 NIV). How would she settle her debt with that "little" oil? Elisha told her to go and use that "little" oil. She did as she was told and at the end, she paid her debts and even had more!

Likewise, the son of a Shunammite woman was dead. Prophet Elisha gave his staff to his servant, Gehazi to go and raise the son from the dead. "Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy's face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, 'The boy has not awakened'" (2 Kings 4:31 NIV). He had no eye of faith. He could not see the extraordinary power in the "ordinary" staff.

Take an honest look at your own life. "What is that in your hand?" What do you have that looks "ordinary," "little" or "insignificant"? Look at it with an eye of faith. You have something that others do not have. Let God use it to perform His wonders in your life. "[For God has chosen] the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him" (1 Corinthians 1:28-29 NIV).

In His service,

Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).

NB

This message was first sent out on February 16, 2004.