Have you ever heard someone say, “If I just had $100,000 or $500,000 or $1 million here’s what I’d do with it”? Sometimes even generosity worms its way into the dreams of these would be wealthy: “If I hit the lottery, I’d give a chunk to my church or my college or my…” But that’s not the way God works.
God spoke to Moses out of a burning bush telling him to confront Pharaoh “to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10). Moses objected to the call of God because he, by his own self-evaluation, lacked the resources to challenge Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world.
In response to the objections of Moses, God asked a simple question, “What is that in your hand?” Moses said “a staff” (Exodus 4:2). That staff, that stick, that rod became an instrument God used time and again in the hands of Moses and later in the hands of Aaron. The staff became a resource of value well beyond that of a shepherd’s staff. In his book “No Little People,” Francis Schaeffer said it well, “The staff of Moses became the staff of God.”
It is a good, learned and wise steward who takes the resources in his or her hands and lets them become God’s resources. Be it little or large — a widow’s mite or a king’s treasure — from the hand of a steward to the hand of God, resources become powerful tools and symbols in the kingdom of God.
What do you have in your hand?
DISCUSSION:
[1] If God can use a stick, what do I possess that He can use? [2] If God can use a stick and I am blessed with many resources, how can I manage these resources to God’s glory? [3] If God is really interested in how I manage my resources — and He is — how would He evaluate my use of these resources? Well done, or you can do better?Lee Crist is a regional representative of the Free Methodist Foundation and the senior pastor of the Holiday Free Methodist Church in Holiday, Florida. His wife, Paula Crist, is Southeast area director for World Gospel Mission.
0
