What Is That in Your Hand?

"And He said to them, 'How many loaves have you? Go look!' And when they found out, they said, 'Five and two fish'" (Mark 6:38).

It all began with Moses standing before God, beloved, protesting that he was perhaps not the best choice to be redeemer of Israel. He tried to use the excuse that they might not believe God had sent him. What was he to do then? In response, God asked him a simple question, one that He has been asking throughout man's history and asks of us even today:

"And the Lord said to him, 'What is that in your hand?'" (Exodus 4:2a).

We all know how that simple shepherd's staff became in the hands of Moses "the rod of God," beloved. With it God used him to confound Pharaoh's magicians, to part the waters of the Red Sea, and to utterly defeat the Amalekites at Rephidim. And it all began simply with what he had in his hand!

And when the impoverished widow, in fear of starving to death, came to Elisha and appealed to him as the man of God on behalf of herself and her sons, he too asked her:

"And Elisha said to her, 'What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?'" (2 Kings 4:2a).

Here was a lady who needed a miracle from God and where did the man of God focus her attention? Upon that which was already at hand! Clearly, beloved, God operates within our lives with His own certain "expectation" from us. He expects us to take what we already have been given and use it for His glory with all of our might.

When the disciples came to Jesus expecting yet another miracle, asking Him how they could possibly hope to feed that great throng of people at Bethsaida, His reply to them echoed His Father's attitude found earlier in Scripture:

"And He said to them, 'How many loaves have you? Go look!'"

Jesus was asking them - "What is that in your hand?" - and letting them know for certain that they would begin with that provision already present. Jesus knew full well what He intended to do already to feed them all, but this was a wonderful opportunity to teach His disciples a very important lesson in life.

We have sadly become today a people who seem to live by the principle - "Have a need, expect a miracle." The thought of using what we already have for God's glory and our own good seldom seems to occur to us. But God is still operating within His world today with that same sense of divine "expectation," that is, by asking us first, "What is that in your hand?"

If you have your Bible handy as you are reading this devotional, beloved, let me ask you to pick it up and hold it for a moment. If not, then just imagine that you are holding it. Now let me ask you, "What is that in your hand?" God has already provided us with all of the resources of divine truth and principles for living as Christians that we could ever hope to receive via one miracle or another! But what are you doing with it? Do you live daily by its standards? Are you claiming its promises? Are you bringing your life into line with its expectations?

If you would see the miracles of God in your life today, beloved, then you must first make sure that what is in your hand already is being used for God's glory and for the advancement of His kingdom. What is that in your hand?

Ron