THE POINT IS...What is That in Your Hand?

When God called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, God asked Moses a question: “What is that in your hand?” (Exod. 4:2 ESV). The question God asked Moses more than 3,000 years ago is still relevant today. Let me ask you, “What is that in your hand?”

• Proof of God is in your hand. A woman physician once confessed, “One day, I was working on a human hand, studying how the sheaths of certain muscles are split to let tendons of other muscles through that the hand may be delicate and small and yet powerful. I suddenly realized that a thing like this did not just happen. It is part of a plan so wonderful that only God could have conceived it.” Look at your hand. Proof of God’s creative skill and power can be found there.

• The power for good is also in your hand. God gave us two hands with which to perform a variety of tasks. We can use our hands to lift, to guide or even to help. Jesus said He is honored when we use our abilities to serve others, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”(Matt. 25:41). Look at your hand. Power for good can be found there.

• The possession of grace is also in your hand. The hand is the symbol of our reception or rejection of the Lord. We can open our hand to receive Christ or close it to refuse Him. God freely offers His love, His forgiveness and His grace to us all. Open your hand to receive God’s blessings for your life.

An old hermit, reputed to be a wise man, was visited by a group of brash young men. Their leader held a trembling bird in his hand. He planned to ask the old man whether the bird was alive or dead. If the hermit said the bird was alive, the ruffian would squeeze the bird to death and let it fall lifeless to the ground. If the bird were said to be dead, the young man would open his hand and let it fly away. No matter how the old man answered, he would be wrong. “Old man,” said the leader, “Is the bird alive or dead?” The hermit looked in the young man’s eyes and simply said, “It’s in your hand, my son.”

We also have in our hand the issues of life or death. By opening our hand to God, we can receive His life. By clinching our fist in an act of rejection, we close our hand on nothingness. It’s in your hand — proof of God, power for good and possession of grace. When we open our empty hands to God, He gives more than gifts — He gives Himself.