Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might....
There was a young boy who was the son of a drifter. This boy worked as a store clerk for a while, but the store failed. He bought a partnership in another store, but it failed also. He ran for legislature and lost both times. He ran for vice-president and lost. He became the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.
There was another boy who was called a "slow learner." A teacher recommended he be withdrawn from school because of his seeming inability.
He tried to go to school in Switzerland, but failed the entrance exam. He was fired from three teaching jobs. At age 26 he won the Nobel Prize. He was Albert Einstein.
Here were men who suffered serious setbacks in life, road blocks if you will, but they perserved to do a great work in their fields. How much more important is it for a child of God to use the ability God has given them? How important is it for a Christian to be faithful as a good steward of that which God has entrusted to them.
Yet many times the very things God has given us to use for His glory, get laid aside, get hidden away because the devil sidetracks the people of God. The devil knows he can’t take away that which God has given you. Your time, talents, and treasures are yours from God. But while the devil can’t take these things, he does desire to keep you from using them for the cause of Christ. If the devil can keep us from doing that which God has commanded us to do, through fear, discouragement, self-pity, or any other thing he has been successful,
What has God given you to do? What is in your hand?
I. What I Have is Insignificant To God
Preacher, you don’t understand. If God had blessed me with some great talent, I would surely use it for him. But what I have to offer is so insignificant it doesn,t matter any way.
Let me tell you about a man who took something insignificant in his hand, and God made it miraclous.
There was a man of God named Samson. God had set him apart and made him a judge over Israel. Samson had super-human strength which was given to him by God and God had given him many victorys. Yet in Judges 15 Samson finds himself in real trouble. He has been bound and is going to be delivered into the hands of his enemies, the Philstines. As he was being delivered into their hands, God’s Spirit moved, and the ropes which bound him broke.
Yet he was still surrounded by a great host of trained and armed fighting men.
If you and I had been there we would have said " Samson, give up. You don’t have a sword or a shield.’ But the Bible says Sampson grabbed a near by object and used to kill 1,000 fighting men. What did he grab? Was it a sword or a spear? No, it was the jawbone of an ass.
You might say what could Samson possibly do with a jawbone. Samson couldn’t do anything with it, but it was all he had in his hand and he trusted God with it. And God took that insignificant object and wrought a great victory. Judges 15:15 " And found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it and slew a thousand men there with." What brought that victory? Was it the jawbone? No it was the man who held the jawbone who was willing to let God use what was in his hand. No matter how insignificant it seemed.
The devil is telling you that the thing which God has in your hand, some thing He has given you, time, talent, or treasure is insignificant. And it is insignificant if you try to use it in your own strength or hide it away. But take that which seems to be insignificant. that which in the light of others seems to be nothing but a jawbone, and give it to God. And God will take that which He has placed in your hand to bring a great spiritual victory.
How sad to hold back our mouth from witnessing to others because we feel inadequate. Give it to God. How sad not to read our Bible because our understanding seems limited compared to others. Give it to God. How sad to not spend time in prayer because we feel we don’t know how. Give it God. What’s in your hand? Give it God, and you will see miracles in your life.
II. What I Have Is Not Enough
Preacher, God has placed some things in my hand I could use, but there doesn’t seem to be enough for me and God both. I mean I could be faithful to church but that cuts into my time and there isn’t enough of that. I could teach that class but I don’t have enough energy. I mean there needs to be something left for me.
Let me introduce you to a lady who learned to give all that was in her hand.
Elijah, the man of God, had been dwelling by a brook and was being fed by ravens. Then the brook dried up and God told him to go to a city called Zarapeth and to find a widow woman who would feed him. Elijah found the widow woman and told her what God had said.
But when she looked at what was in her hand, it didn’t seem to be enough. She said " I only have a handful of meal and a little oil in a cruse. I am getting ready to cook it for my son and I to eat and then we will die." Remember there was a famine in the land.
Elijah said, " Do that which God said." The widow obeyed God and I Kings 17:16 says " And the barrel of meal did not waste, neither did the cruse fail, according to the word of the Lord." Widow, what would have happened if you had hoarded that which was in your hand? My son and I would have starved. What happened when you gave it to God? He multiplied it over and over.
Christian, are you hoarding your time? You are using it for yourself instead of giving it to God and you are spiritually empty. You are spiritually starving to death. Give what you have to God and let Him multiply it and you will be spiritually full and running over.
III. What I Have In My Hand Is Hard To Let Go Of
God has given me some thngs, some very precious things, but they are so hard to let go of. I know God has placed them in my hand but they are so hard to let go of.
Let me introduce you to another woman. All that she had in her hand was a little hand. A son for which she had prayed, and with which God had answered her prayer. Hannah had prayed for a son and God had given her Samuel.
And yet she knew Samuel was not hers to keep. He was just loaned from God and she had promised to give him back to the Lord. So she took him to the tabernacle and gave him to God’s service as a young boy. I can just imagine as they walked into the tabernacle, his little hand in hers, and she turned him over to the Lord. What a conflict between her longing to keep him or to do what was right. But she took that which was so hard to let go of, and God took that boy and he became a mighty man of God.
You say what kind of mother was she to leave her son at the tabernacle. She was one who trusted God with the most precious thing she had in her hand. Today, we would not leave our children at the church, but have we given them to God? Do we want them to do God’s will whatever the cost?
Sometimes we try to wrap our hand around those precious things God has given us, our life, our spouse, our children and God has to pry our fingers loose. Let go and let God have His way. He loves those precious things in your life more than you do.
IV. That Which God Has Placed In My Hand Is
Ridiculed By Others
You so desire to be used of God. You desire to win victories for the cause of Christ. You desire to fight a good fight. But what God has given you is just laughed at by the world. It seems the odds are just too great. How can one person make a difference with what God has given you?
The Philistines were set to do battle with the Israelites. A Philistine giant challenged Israel day after day to send out a man to fight him. No one was willing to fight him except a shepard boy named David. And when David when out to do battle, the giant laughed at him. All David had was a sling shot in his hand and Goliath laughed him to scorn. But when the giant fell from a stone in his forehead no one was laughing any more and a great victory was won.
People may laugh at what God has given you. They may tell you it is impossible for you to do anything for God. But you remember David and say, people may laugh at what I have but God it’s yours. And He will use it to defeat some great giants.
IV. That Which God Has Placed In My Hand Has
Cost Me Much Pain And Heartache
Pastor, those things God has placed in my hand, I’ve given them to Him, but they have caused me great pain. I have been ridiculed, rejected, and criticized and now I am bitter. Why did God place those things in my hand?
Let me introduce you to a man. He is just outside a tomb. He is standing there with his hand outstretched and as you look closer, you see what is in His hand. A nail scar. You draw back in horror and say who is this and why would God allow that in His hand? And He says, " I am Jesus Christ, and I allowed that nail scar for your sin. No, I didn’t deserve it but I did it for you."
If you feel that the things God has placed in your hand are to painful. If you feel it’s too hard to trust God and not be bitter. Take the hand of your Savior and spend some time gazing at His nail pierced hands and you will count no cost too high.
Christian, what’s in your hand?
1. Does it seem insignificant? Tell that to
Sampson. God wants to use small things.
2. Does it seem hard to share? Tell that to the
widow. Little is much when God is in it.
3. Does it seem to hard to let go of? Tell that
to Hannah. That which we cling to was never
ours.
4. Does the world ridicule what God has given
you? Tell that to David. Your sling shot
will defeat giants.
5. Does it seem painful? Tell that to Jesus.
God will use your pain to perfect.
It’s not whats in your hand, it’s what you let God do with it!