What's in YOUR hand?

"And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? and he said, A rod." (Ex. 4:2)

If you are familiar with this account of Moses, you will appreciate this ... even if you are not, you can apreciate this moment of transition in the life of a  great leader! Moses was chosen by God Himself to leave his position of relative obscurity and take up a very prominent role of leadership … He was being tasked to abandon his shepherding of his four legged flocks to step up and into a very demanding position in which he would lead another kind of flock … A two legged one … the children of Israel. God had assured him that he in fact was God’s choice and that the Almighty would certainly be with him. At this point all Moses had to do was accept his position and task and surely he would be successful! What an opportunity!However, it appears that Moses heard the LORD talking, but his mind was wandering … he could understand what the LORD was saying but he wasn’t really hearing him … he understood the words, but he began to wonder and entertain hypothetical scenarios. I believe he went in to “Panic mode”!

Life can make you panic … there are some circumstances that cause us to panic sometimes … financial, medical, familial … panic is a response to an uncertain stimulus … many have “panic” attacks … brought on by any number of situations … usually a fear of an unfavorable outcome … a childhood phobia … an anxiety … many are frozen in their tracks … the root of Moses’ panic was a fear of rejection – they won’t believe me … they will say The LORD didn’t appear to me … they will think I’m crazy … he allowed his inner fear and insecurity to overcome him and question the very God who appeared to him and declared himself to be “I AM THAT I AM” …

-         He allowed his minor insecurities to overshadow God’s major possibilities

-         He allowed his personal limitations to overshadow God’s universal preparations

-         He let his private boundaries overshadow God’s expansive borders … yes when he thought of the fact that God would call him, a desert dweller, a shepherd, and former Egyptian to go back to Egypt and stand before a powerful king, he looked at himself then looked at the task before him and came to the conclusion that surely he was the wrong man for the job! Surely they would need someone with more prominence and notoriety … certainly someone of greater significance …

I don’t know what it is about a man sometimes (I mean a male here) that makes him/us panic and show signs of trepidation from time to time … every once in a while I hear a sister say “he wasn’t ready for commitment” or I hear a brother say “I don’t know if I am ready to make that step yet” …

Well, let me speak from my limited experience: “The only way to assure failure is not to try” … when I went to college many years ago, I had hesitation because it was new, but I went anyway …

When I joined the military many years ago, I had anxieties because it was something different, but I went anyway …

When I met my wife over 20 years ago, I had never been married … I had never proposed … I had never taken care of anybody but myself … it was new, it was different, I was a little nervous … but I went on ahead anyway … and today I thank God because he has brought us a mighty long way! When our first son was born … I had never been a father before … I had never had someone call me “daddy” … I never thought I could love another person like that … but God helped me “man-up” … God’s word directed me … God’s people protected me … God’s ministers selected me … and taught me all I needed to know!

I’m saying when you are given a task by someone greater than you, or you are venturing out into unknown territory … have faith in God, have faith in the ability that he has given you, and have a little faith in yourself … after all, we are made in His image! He put something/someone/situation in your hand ... what are you gonna do?

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
 ----from A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson.

Now you have the CLUE!