What Do You Have?

Rev. George R. Dillahunty
685 Grant Avenue
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23452-3047

November 14, 2009

Text: Exodus 4:1-5 (King James Version)

"And Moses answered and said, ’But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, ’The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.’ (v. 2) And the Lord said unto him, ’What is that in thine hand?’ And he said, ’A rod.’ (v. 3) And He said, ’Cast it on the ground.’ And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. (v. 4) And the Lord said unto Moses, ’Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail.’ And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: (v. 5) That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee."

Topic: What Do You Have?

Almighty God uses people to accomplish His Will! Each and every one of us have special talents and abilities that we are born with! Not everyone has the same gifts from Almighty God - Who created us - gifts that He can use for Kingdom building! Each of us is different and unique; and, it is those differences that bring richness to our lives! Diversity is prized by Almighty God; but, not always by His people! We need to learn to accept our differences and look for the things that we have in common!

Throughout the ages, Christians have done all kinds of things to understand the mind of Almighty God - to know His Will! Some of us have taken the Holy Bible - the written Word of Almighty God - and turned it into a book of magic! We have simply let the Holy Scriptures flop open - allowed our eyes to drift down a page until a specific verse leaped out at us - whether it was in or out of context - and used that verse to determine what Almighty God wants for us! Some of us - instead of stargazing - have gazed at our circumstances trying to read into them what is happening in our lives - much like a palm reader who interprets the lines on our hands! And still some of us simply have a carefully developed system of intuition and hunches - lifting our inner impressions to the level of Divine revelation and claiming that Almighty God has spoken to us!

Such practices are common and the anxiety that leads to them is understandable! Almighty God’s Word is not a "crystal ball" - it does not tell us specifically what Almighty God wants us to do - however, it does tell us that Almighty God is working out His Will in our lives; and, that His Word is sufficient to guide us throughout life and in all things!

The Prophet Moses had a rod in his hand; and, it became a tool to be used by Almighty God to help Moses in leading His people out of bondage and taking them to the "Promised Land!"

The shepherd boy, David, had a sling in his hand; and, it became a tool to be used by Almighty God to slay a giant of the Philistines named Goliath!

A Jewish maiden had a small voice; and, it became a tool to be used by Almighty God to tell the Syrian captain, Naaman, about the man of God named Elisha; so that Naaman could be healed of his leprosy!

A little lad had a lunch of five (5) barley loaves and two (2) small fish; and, it became a tool used by Jesus, the Christ, to feed a mutltude of 5,000-plus people and leave twelve (12) baskets of leftover broken bread!

A widow woman had two (2) mites; and, they became a tool