Hammer on Anvil '

Moses answered, "What if they do not believe or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you'?" Then the Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" (Exodus 4:1,2).


Remember this great story of Moses? He and Abraham are the biggest names in the Bible, aside from Jesus of course. Their deeds are recalled throughout the Old Testament. They are among several saints mentioned in Hebrews 11, sometimes called the "Faith Hall of Fame."

Yet look at Moses' rocky beginning. God turned his shepherd's staff into a snake and said, "This is so they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers ... has appeared to you" (Exodus 4:5). Yet even after witnessing this miracle, Moses tells God he is "slow of speech and tongue." When God assures Moses that He will give him the words to say, Moses has the audacity to say, "Please send someone else" (Exodus 4:13).

Have you ever done that? Has God told you to do something, and you groused and told Him to go find somebody else? Perhaps you, like Moses, thought you were unfit for what He asked you to do. Maybe you suffer from low self-esteem, and think that surely God could never use you. But you're wrong.

When Moses started with the "what-ifs," God asked, "What is in your hand?" God was trying to convey to Moses that he didn't have to be a stellar communicator. All he had to do was entrust himself -- and whatever was in his hand -- completely to God. The point is that it's not about what YOU think you may or may not possess talent-wise; God's power is what makes the difference. He will use what you have, if you release it to Him for His purposes. A mere shepherd's staff was used to perform some of the greatest miracles the world has ever seen.

As I read this story, I perceived another interpretation to the "what is in your hand" query. I think sometimes God asks us that question because He wants to employ our hands to do His work, but they are so full of other things that He can't use them. Remember the "cares of the world" mentioned in Mark 4:19? Jesus warns that they will choke the Word in us and render us unfruitful. Are you carrying burdens around that God never intended for you to carry, simply because you can't or won't let go? God may be waiting to pour abundant blessing into your hands, but they are so filled with other things that you are incapable of receiving.

If your hands are full, but not of the right things, it's time to let go. Perhaps you have been unable to serve God for a long time because you are bound up in bitterness and unforgiveness. I have been there, and it's not fun. Victim mentalities have no place in the kingdom of God.

What is in your hand? I encourage you today to examine your heart. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal if you have been holding back from giving yourself completely to God because you doubt your giftings or you feel awkward and clumsy as a Christian. Maybe you compare yourself too much to other Christians and tend to give up because you know you could "never be as good as (fill in the blank)."

Friends, God doesn't WANT you to be like anybody else. He created you with unique personality traits and giftings, and He wants to use all of that to bring glory to himself. Allow the ugly, nasty things you may have experienced to become useful tools in the hands of your Maker. He is a master at bringing beauty out of the ashes (Isaiah 61:3).

We have all probably, at some time in our lives, had to live with an untidy roommate. You know the kind. You come home from working a long shift, hoping for some sweet relaxation, only to find that your roommate is not at home and has left a mountain of dirty dishes in the sink. Before you can get yourself anything to eat, you have to start cleaning up a mess you didn't even make.

You go to do your laundry, and find wet clothing in the washing machine. Your roomie has done her laundry but neglected to put it in the dryer. If you want to wash your clothes, you need to first put hers in the dryer. Though you have verbally discussed dividing up chores, she repeatedly neglects to do hers. You don't want to enable her by cleaning up the mess, but you also don't want to live in a pig sty.

I was praying recently and asking the Holy Spirit to consume me, and it occurred to me that sometimes He feels like the clean roomie and I am the slob. Why? Because I ask Him to fill me and inhabit my body which is His temple, but I expect Him to move in with some rather unsavory roommates. Rather than cleaning house before He comes, I leave things as is and expect Him to live in the pig sty that is my life. "Here, Holy Spirit. Let me introduce you to my roomies: Anger, Bitterness, Ugly Speech, and Irritability." And then I wonder why He doesn't stick around.

See, my friends, the Holy Spirit is not given so that we can keep living the way we're living. God purchased us with the precious blood of His Son, and is the rightful owner of everything we are and everything we have. First Corinthians 6:20 tells us, "You were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body." Before we ask the Holy Spirit to come and take control of our lives, we must be willing for forsake our own wills. It's a fair exchange: my life for the life of Christ in me, empowered by His Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is given to empower us to live like Jesus, but sometimes we desire His power or His gifts to enhance our own egos. For example, some people who speak in tongues think they are somehow more holy than Christians who don't. A gifted teacher may lack humility because he is constantly complimented about his gift. A woman with the gift of hospitality may become judgmental of others who don't share her love of having her home filled with people.

In all of these scenarios, it's obvious that the gifted people have lost sight of where their gift came from, and the reason it was imparted to them. Gifts and talents are never given so that we can lord it over those we don't think are as gifted as we are. They're not given so people can ooh and aah about what wonderful Christians we are. God pours things into us so that we can pour them right back out again, investing them in other people for the sake of His kingdom.

If you are feeling rather defeated today and wonder why your Christian life seems blah or powerless, examine your habits. Do you watch or read things that have little redeeming value? Do you play video games that glorify violence and gore? How is your thought life? These are all things that need to be cleaned up if we expect the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives.

If you feel like you need a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit today, God is more than willing to honor that request. But first be sure the body you're asking Him to inhabit is a suitable home.

On the evening of July 16, 1999, John F. Kennedy, Jr. was piloting a small aircraft with his wife and sister-in-law as passengers.  At some point during the flight, visibility decreased, Kennedy became disoriented, and he crashed the plane into the ocean.  All three people on board died.

 

His crash was a clear example of Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT).  CFIT is when there is a perfectly good aircraft and a perfectly good pilot, but the pilot unintentionally flies the aircraft into terrain.  According to aircraft manufacturer Boeing, CFIT is the number one cause of fatal aircraft accidents.  In Kennedy’s case, this occurred because he became spatially disoriented (i.e. he lost track of where the ground was).   Kennedy was a certified pilot, but he was only certified to fly as long as he maintained visual contact with the surface; he could not fly in clouds or anything that would require him to fly solely by reference to the flight instruments.

 

Insert Christian metaphor.

 

It occurred to me that, as Christians, we are in danger of our own type of Controlled Flight Into Terrain.  We are flying along in the world and there is only one source that we should depend on to tell us which way is up – God.  All other sources lead us toward spatial disorientation.  And to maintain control, we have to maintain constant vigilance.  We have to look at, trust, and use our flight instruments (a.k.a. the Bible and the Holy Spirit).  We are still in control of the aircraft and can fly however we want, but the flight instruments tell us the best way to fly.

 

Let’s be honest.  This is hard.  When the world is telling us this way is up and God is telling us the other way is up, it’s not nearly as easy as it sounds to decide who is right.  Truthfully, I think I usually pick somewhere in the middle and justify it as being okay.  And it probably is okay – for a short time.  But it also means that my course has changed.  I’m no longer flying in the direction the flight instruments are telling me I should.  Over time, these small changes are going to mount up.  I’m going to find myself further and further from where I should be until I either run out of fuel or crash.

 

This is CFIT and it is happening all the time.  Maybe it isn’t always getting to the crash part, but we’re all get off course to some extent.  The only way to fix it is to develop a habit of frequently looking at our flight instruments and making necessary adjustments.  In a nutshell, this is sanctification (see Ephesians 5:26-27).

 

Sidenote:

 

I also thought of another appropriate CFIT metaphor.  New pilots (i.e. new Christians) may be very intelligent, well put-together people, but they are still new to flying.  And just as we wouldn’t ask a new pilot to immediately fly into clouds, we shouldn’t ask new Christians to immediately feast on spiritual meat.  They need to start with milk (see 1 Peter 2:2-3).  We are all in different stages of learning to trust the flight instruments, so we should not begrudge those who are new and struggling.  If anything, we should offer our support.