I have seen many rich and powerful men who can’t walk openly on the street. When they do, they are constantly watching their back, checking and verifying if anyone is trailing them and/ or trying to harm them. You on the other hand, can take a stroll to the grocer down the street and return in peace. You can sleep like a baby on the roughest floor in Delhi, waking up re-freshened to give God glory for the rising sun. You might not be as rich as they are but they are not as content as you are. You are not as powerful as they are but they are not as safe as you are.  That is something you do have.

What Is In Your Hand

God spoke to Moses and asked, what is in your hand. Prior to this question, Moses made excuses why he could not go and conquer Egypt. Moses said he had no tools to do the job. He was a stammerer, he was an exile, he was outnumbered … on and on. By asking Moses what was in his hand, God was confirming that he did have something. That everyone has something, including you. He is the same God that asked the boy to bring what he had – 2 loaves of bread and 5 fish. He taught David to use the sling he had to defeat a military genius. It’s not what you don’t have that matters, it is what you do have, and what God can do with it.

Something You Do Have

I know couples who put off having children in favor of their careers. They end up with one child, Johnny, and ask baby sitters to raise him. They compensate their guilt for the lack of time spent with Johnny by buying him elaborate toys. They can’t discipline Johnny because he will call the police on them if they dare. Johnny grows up, starts to drink whiskey, womanizes and smokes. He joins a gang and ends up in jail. The stress he brings his parents causes them to divorce. They can – after all, they earn their own money and do not need each other. But you, you are different. You do not have much but you, your wife and all of your 7 children stick together as a family. No fancy clothes for the Children’s backs, and no grilled steaks for their lunch boxes but they still grow up respecting their parents and their elders. This my friend, is something you do have.

And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said , A rod. – Exodus 4:2