What’s In Your Hand?

Photo Credit Nature by Beth

When God appeared to Moses and asked him to go to Egypt to lead the Israelites out of captivity, Moses hesitated. He gave excuse after excuse for why he wasn’t the right man for the job. His identity, in his own mind, was wrapped up in being a shepherd. He saw himself as nothing more than someone tending sheep.

But God interrupted that mindset with a question that would reshape everything:
“What is in your hand?”

Moses looked down and saw a staff, the tool of his trade, the symbol of his work. It was his career, his livelihood, his sense of identity. And God asked him to lay it down.

That staff, though simple, represented how Moses defined himself. It was as if God was saying: The thing you think defines you is not the limit of who you are. Let me show you another calling.

The Hard Work of Laying It Down

God often brings us into seasons where He calls us to lay certain things down. That doesn’t mean those things never mattered; it just means they don’t matter right now in the same way.

In March, when I got called into the HR office and was told my position was eliminated, it felt like someone had just asked me to lay down my staff. For nearly two decades, higher education had been my professional identity. I had poured my life, my energy, my gifts into it. And suddenly, it was gone.

I was holding on with both hands, and letting go did not feel like an opportunity… it felt like loss. Like failure. Like my very identity had slipped away.

But here’s the truth: that moment wasn’t about what I lost. It was about what God wanted to do with what was in my hand.

From Staff to Snake

When Moses laid down his staff, it became a snake. Think about that. The very thing he thought gave him security and identity turned into something dangerous when surrendered.

How often do the things we cling to: our jobs, our titles, even our sense of self, become toxic when we hold them too tightly? Sometimes the very identity we protect is the thing that could poison us if we refuse to release it.

Yet, when Moses picked the staff back up at God’s command, it wasn’t just a shepherd’s staff anymore. It became the rod of God, the tool that would part the Red Sea, strike water from a rock, and display God’s power before Pharaoh.

The Invitation

Maybe God is asking you the same question He asked Moses: What is in your hand?

It could be your career, your degree, your role in your family, or even your comfort zone. And maybe, just maybe, God is inviting you to lay it down so He can transform it into something that serves His greater purpose.

The identity you think defines you isn’t the end of your story. In God’s hands, it’s just the beginning.

A Closing Prayer

Lord, thank You that You see more in us than we see in ourselves. Help us to release the things we grip too tightly, our titles, our roles, our comfort zones, and lay them before You. Teach us to trust that when we surrender, You can transform our identity and use it for Your glory. May what’s in our hand become what’s in Yours. Amen.