When Moses was making his “what if” excuses and telling the Lord all his inadequacies that would prevent him from delivering Israel from Egyptian bondage, the Lord asked him a simple question. “What is that in your hand?” And Moses replied, “A staff” (Ex 4:2)—in other words, a long dry wooden stick. Then the Lord demonstrated through His power that all Moses needed he had been holding in his hand.
The excuse most often going through the minds of Christians when asked to help with a ministry is “I don’t have the resources—talents, time, finances—or I am not qualified.” We live in a culture of celebrities, specialists, and superheroes, which can affect the mindset of believers. However, the church in Acts was not composed of any specialist. Now as they [Sanhedrin] observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus (Act 4:13). The apostles and leaders were ordinary people empowered by the Holy Spirit. Note also laymen or laypersons did not exist anywhere in the churches of the New Testament. Peter declares, But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood . . . that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1Pe 2:9 NIV). Every believer becomes a member of this priesthood and given a role in building the Kingdom of God. Serving Christ is not a spectator event. The Holy Spirit indwells all Christians for a purpose.
A major hindrance keeping believers from fulfilling their function often begins when they compare themselves to someone else. “If I were like them and had what they have I could do something for God.” Focusing on other people’s strengths and fixating on our weaknesses can cause us to lose sight of what we do have. We must not allow church celebrities, specialists, and superheroes to blind us to what God has placed in our hands. God gives every Christian at least one spiritual gift. In addition, the Holy Spirit can utilize our natural abilities to serve others. You may already be thinking, “I’m just a mechanic, a cook, a computer technician, a hair dresser, etc.” When we surrender our ordinary talents, skills, and possessions to God, He can use them in extraordinary ways.
Despite the fact that a staff was just a piece of wood, it served a vital function in the hands of a shepherd. With it, he guided the sheep, protected the sheep, and kept his herd close together. The Lord told Moses, “Throw it on the ground.” Two aspects were required to fulfill this command, which applies to us: obedience and surrender. Moses obeyed and threw his primary shepherd’s tool on the ground as God instructed thus surrendering it to God’s control. Then the Lord transformed a dead piece of wood into a live serpent. Note God did not make the staff into a ‘magic wand’; rather it symbolized His power working through Moses. It also became God’s staff. Moses also took the staff of God in his hand (Ex 4:20). Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand (Ex 17:9). What if Moses had not obeyed, turned around, and went back to his sheep thinking, “A staff is not enough to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage.” His staff would have remained nothing more than a piece of wood and we would not be reading about God using Moses for the deliverance of His people. Neither, would we read how through Moses God utilized the staff parting the Red Sea, turning the Nile River into blood, performing signs in front of Pharaoh and making water come out of a rock.
Nothing we possess whether education, talent, or special skills will be effective for God without our surrender and His empowerment. Christ does not base serving Him on the quantity or specialization we possess but your willingness to use what He placed in our hand. In the parable of talents, the servant with one talent, fearing the master, buried it in the ground. When the master returned, he rewarded the two who invested their talents doubling the amount. However, he became angry and punished the servant who buried his. We often overlook two lessons in this parable. A believer who has only one talent will not remain a one-talent Christian. For to everyone who has, more shall be given (Mat 25:29). When we faithfully employ what we have, He will entrust us with more. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things (v21). Second, at any time while the master was gone, the servant could have dug up his one talent and invested it just as his co-workers did. As long as you are alive and Jesus has not returned, it is not too late for you to dig up what you have buried and invest it for Christ.
Don’t compare yourself with the multi-talented and gifted believers—maybe they started with just one. God is not looking for celebrities, specialists, or superheroes—any old stick will do.
Sustaining Word for the Week: A simple question, what’s in your hand? Are you willing to surrender it to the Holy Spirit, allow Him to empower it and use it?