What Is In Your Hand? Instruments for God

Exodus 17 puts God’s people in the desert, thirsty and frustrated, not long after God had brought them out of slavery. Israel’s thirst turns into quarrelling, grumbling, and that ugly question, “Is the Lord among us or not?” The text shows how quickly a people can praise God on one side of the water and then wish for captivity again because freedom gets uncomfortable.

God meets Moses in the middle of that mess with a simple question: what is in his hand? The staff is not magic, and Moses is not the hero. God goes before Moses at the rock, water comes out, and God provides what the people cannot provide for themselves. The staff becomes a picture of how God uses ordinary instruments, gifts, talents, and abilities that have been placed in somebody’s hand.

The call to be an instrument begins with recognizing uniqueness. God has not made every person the same, and giftedness is not equal in every way. The temptation is to covet somebody else’s gift, ability, influence, or role, while neglecting the thing God has actually given. Faithfulness means putting that uniqueness to use instead of sitting around wishing for another person’s life.

The Amalekite attack then shows that God’s people have different functions in the same battle. Joshua goes into the fight. Moses stands on the hill with the staff lifted toward God. Aaron and Hur hold up Moses’ tired arms. God wins the battle, but God chooses to use Joshua’s sword, Moses’ intercession, and Aaron and Hur’s willingness to carry a burden that was not theirs alone.

The church cannot become another thing added onto an already crowded life. The church is God’s plan for showing the world love, grace, peace, hope, and joy. The church has no plan B. God calls His people to go into battle, pray for those in battle, and hold up the arms of those who are too tired to hold them up themselves. The Lord’s victory does not come from human talent or strength, but God still calls every person to surrender what is in their hand for His kingdom and glory.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God uses what is already given. God does not begin with Moses’ lack, insecurity, or inability to speak well. God begins with the staff already in his hand and makes it useful for His purpose. Faithfulness starts when a person stops measuring what is missing and offers what God has already supplied. [44:22]
• 2. Uniqueness must become usefulness. God gives different gifts, and the body does not need everyone trying to be the same person. Envy keeps people staring at somebody else’s ability while their own gift sits unused. God’s kingdom work requires a person to recognize how God formed them and then put that uniqueness into function. [41:12]
• 3. Prayer holds up weary hands. Moses could not keep his arms raised alone, even though the battle depended on that intercession. Aaron and Hur shared his burden by doing the humble work of holding him up until sunset. Intercession is not passive support; it is a real part of the battle God is winning. [49:24]
• 4. The church has no plan B. God has chosen the church to carry His life into the world through ordinary, faithful people. Christianity cannot remain an add-on that gets squeezed in when nothing else is happening. God calls the church to become hands and feet that fight, carry burdens, and pray for one another.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [31:13] - Finishing the Call to Be the Church
• [32:22] - Israel’s Journey From Egypt
• [33:46] - Worship Follows Salvation
• [35:36] - Thirst, Grumbling, and Testing God
• [38:13] - What Is in Your Hand?
• [40:04] - Uniqueness and Usefulness
• [42:35] - Using Ordinary Gifts for the Kingdom
• [45:47] - Amalek Attacks at Rephidim
• [48:26] - Joshua, Moses, Aaron, and Hur
• [50:41] - Carrying Each Other’s Burdens
• [53:52] - God’s Instruments in Every Role
• [54:40] - The Church Has No Plan B
• [56:16] - Hands, Feet, and Faithfulness
• [57:16] - Prayer of Surrender

1. All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. [35:27]
2. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” [35:39]
3. But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” [35:47]
4. So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” [36:50]
5. And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.” [36:58]
6. “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. [37:01]
7. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” [37:17]
8. Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. [46:18]
9. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” [46:25]
10. So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. [46:36]
11. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. [46:43]
12. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. [46:54]
13. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. [47:10]
14. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. [47:15]
15. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” [47:15]
16. And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, “The Lord Is My Banner,” saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” [47:15]

1. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. [39:08]
2. And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. [39:08]
3. And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. [39:08]
4. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. [39:12]

1. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. [51:59]

1. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, [32:03]
2. to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. [32:03]

1. In Exodus 17:1–7, what do the people do when they have no water, and what question do they ask about God’s presence?
2. What does God tell Moses to take with him to the rock, and who does God say will stand before Moses there? [36:58]
3. In the battle with Amalek, what different tasks are carried out by Joshua, Moses, Aaron, and Hur? [46:25]
4. According to 1 Corinthians 12:4–7, what is different among believers, and what remains the same?

1. Israel had recently seen God rescue them, yet their thirst quickly became grumbling and the question, “Is the Lord among us or not?” Why can present discomfort make it hard for believers to remember God’s past faithfulness? [37:30]
2. God uses Moses’ staff, but God Himself stands before Moses and provides the water. What does this show about the difference between being useful to God and taking credit for God’s work? [44:33]
3. Joshua fought, Moses interceded, and Aaron and Hur supported Moses when he grew tired. What might these different roles look like in the life of a church today? [49:24]
4. Galatians 6:2 calls believers to bear one another’s burdens. What is the difference between simply saying, “I hope things work out,” and truly helping carry someone’s burden? [52:04]

1. When life becomes uncomfortable, what kinds of complaints or fears most often rise up in your heart? How can you remember God’s faithfulness instead of responding as though He is absent? [37:43]
2. What is already “in your hand”—a skill, relationship, experience, resource, ability, or opportunity—that God may be calling you to offer for His kingdom? [38:49]
3. Is there a gift or role in another person’s life that you tend to envy? How might that comparison keep you from faithfully using the gifts God has actually given you? [40:04]
4. Think about the people around you who are “in the battle” right now—in family struggles, work stress, illness, grief, school, or ministry. What is one specific way you could intercede for one of them this week? [49:52]
5. Is there someone whose arms seem weary right now? What would it look like to do more than offer good wishes—to make a call, bring a meal, listen, help with a practical need, or pray with them? [51:59]
6. Where has church become one more thing added onto an already crowded schedule? What change could help your life become more fully centered on Christ and His people? [52:58]
7. God’s victory does not come from human strength, yet He chooses to use ordinary people as His instruments. What would surrendering your time, gifts, and plans to God look like in one practical area this week? [55:31]