WHAT IS THAT IN YOUR HAND?

SERIES: EXODUS- SAVED TO SERVE.

TEXT: EXODUS 4:1-5.

The context reveals around the call of Moses to the deliverer of Israel. Moses was then 80 years old. He is a fugitive from Egypt. He lives with his father-in-law Jethro and keeps Jethro’s sheep. He does not seem to be a likely choice for the ministry God has in mind.

When the call of God comes, Moses gives every excuse he can think of to get out of what the Lord has for him to do.

1. He says he doesn’t feel worthy-3:1-12.
2. He says he doesn’t even know God’s name-3:13-14.
3. He says the people will not believe him-4:1-9.
4. He says that he is not good with words-4:10-12.
5. He says “send another”-4:13-17.

After all the excuses, Moses goes to do what the Lord has told him to do-4:18-31.

In the midst of this account, God asks Moses a question-4:2, “WHAT IS THAT IN THINE HAND?” Moses answered, “A rod.” All that Moses had in his hand was a simple shepherd’s staff. To Moses that rod was a dry, dead stick. Today let us look at our lives and see the things we also carry in our hands.

God uses what we have not what we don’t have. “What is that in your hands?”

MOSES HELD HIS PERSONALITY IN HIS HAND-4:2.

• When Moses said “a rod,” he was referring to his shepherd’s staff.
• This was a stick some six feet long. It was used for a variety of ways by the shepherd.
• It was used to guide, lead and protect the sheep.
• It was used to support the shepherd and help him climb up and down the steep mountain places as he led the sheep.
• It was used to defend the sheep and the shepherd from the attacks of wild animals and anything that would frighten the flock.
• Moses depended on that rod every day he lived.
• That rod identified Moses as a shepherd.
• All that Moses possessed was that rod. It represented his life, his identity and his livelihood.
• The rod said to Moses “you are nothing, but a shepherd keeping another man’s flock.”
• Like Moses, we also hold some things in our hands today. Some of these things we hold are good and others are evil.
• Sometimes we hold, “the past, some pet sin, some hard feelings over things people have done or said to us, unforgiveness, the sorrows of life, feelings of inadequacy, negativity, talents, natural abilities and accomplishments.
• All these things whether good or bad identify us and control our lives.
• You see, we come to depend on the things we hold in our hands.
• These things become an integral part of our lives.
• We lean on the things we hold in our hands.
• These things include our past, our problems grudges, abilities and talents.
• We all live for things we allow to define our personality and control our spiritual destiny.
• Moses teaches us that what we hold in our hands does not have to hold us!

MOSES HELD HIS PROBLEM IN HIS HAND-4:2.

• When Moses heard the Lord’s question, it must have stabbed his heart. “What is that in your hands?”
• Moses answered, “a rod.”
• At that time Moses remembered a time when his hands held a scepter in Egypt.
• Moses remembered the days back in the palace in Egypt when he was being trained and educated to be a Pharaoh.
• Moses remembered a time when he held the world in his hand, now he has nothing but a dry, dead stick.
• God knew what Moses had in his hand, God was not asking for information-He wanted Moses to consider his own life.
• That rod identified Moses and that rod also represented all the problems in his life!!
• That rod reminded Moses that he used to be a prince, but now a servant.
• That rod reminded Moses that he was poor and owned nothing.
• That rod reminded Moses that his life was once filled with potential, but now he was a nobody on the backside of the desert.
• Our lives are defined by the things we hold “our sins, our past, our hurts, our negatives about other people.
• What you hold determines how you relate and treat other people.
• What you hold determines how you serve GOD.
• If you allow negative aspects of your life to control you-that is how you will relate to God and to people around you.
• May I remind us, that we are to be controlled by nothing and nobody but the Lord Jesus Christ-Eph. 5:18; Gal. 2:20; Rom. 12:1-2.
• What is that in your hand, attitude, activity, action that defines your life?
• The apostle Paul said the thing that identifies him as a child of God is “CHRIST LIKENESS”-Phil. 1:21
• We all live for somebody, something, Paul lived for Christ.

MOSES HELD HIS POTENTIAL IN HIS HAND-4:3-5

• The miracle was in that which Moses held in his hand!!-Vs. 3-4.

1. First the rod becomes a snake and that it becomes a rod again-Vs. 3-4.
2. Moses’ hand becomes leprous and then clean again-Vs. 6-8.
3. God tells Moses that he will be able to turn water to blood-Vs. 9.

• Egyptians worshipped serpents, Pharaoh wore a golden serpent around his neck.
• God would use the rod to confront Egypt with it.
• It was used to confront Egyptian soothsayers-Ex. 7:12.
• It was used to turn the waters of Egypt to blood-Exo. 7:17-20.
• It was used to bring forth plague of lice-Exo. 8:16 and of hail-Exo. 9:23.
• It parted the Red Sea-Exo. 14:27, to bring water out of the rock-Exo. 17:5 and victory over the Amalekites-Exo. 17:9.
• That which we hold in our hand is either a curse or a blessing.
• That sin you refuse to abandon to the grace of God is a dead stick in your hand-confess it.
• That bitterness over some past wrong you suffered is a dead stick in your hand-receive deliverance for it today.
• That negative spirit you possess that causes you to look for the bad in everyone is a dead stick-come out of bondage. That sorrow that you have allowed to shape your life and steal your joy is dead stick-God will cause that pain to work for your good-Rom. 8:28.
• That ability you have, that you are proud of it, give it to God-God will use it to greater levels.
• Those accomplishments in your past that you continually look to are dead stick in your hand-yield them to the Lord-He has greater things for you.

CONCLUSION

• Moses climbed that mountain with a dead stick, he had carried it for 40 years. That stick identified his and controlled his life. It said to him, “All you will ever be is a shepherd, keeping another man’s flock.”
• When he yield the stick to God, it became the power of God in his life.
• Life is either about a dead stick or a powerful Savior.
• Bring what you hold in your hands and cast it down before Him. Let God take your liability and turn it into an asset for His glory.