What Is in Your Hand?

Last updated on: October 28, 2019 at 2:45 am by KP Yohannan

What Is in Your Hand? 2019-10-28T02:45:24+00:00 KP Yohannan

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

During my early days of serving God, I remember being asked to share my testimony for the first time. This was one of the very first ministry assignments I ever had. I was hardly 17 years old. I walked up to the podium and just stood there. I don’t know what exactly I said, but it was only about three or four words, and then I ran back and sat down. I had prepared in advance what I wanted to say, but once I was actually up there, I was so scared. It was a long time before I could overcome this fear…

I’m sure all of us have had some experience like this where we’ve felt inadequate and have had these thoughts of “I don’t measure up,” “I don’t think I have what it takes,” or “Surely, I’m going to fail.” I remember a story that came out some time ago in a newspaper about a young girl who committed suicide right after finishing an exam. They found a letter she left behind in her room, and all it said was something like this: “I can’t measure up. I will never be able to meet the expectations of my parents.” That’s all.

Feeling Unworthy, Don’t Measure Up

All of us have a natural tendency to feel like we don’t measure up. It doesn’t matter if we’re young, old, rich, famous, educated, spiritual or unspiritual. Even if we have 25 years of experience in our job or ministry, we still face feelings of unworthiness or lack confidence. Sometimes it has to do with something in the past: our childhood, our teachers or our friends calling us names. Regardless of where it came from, it affects us deeply and seems to follow us wherever we go. We respond to these feelings of inferiority in different ways. Some people project themselves as being superhuman, coming across like they’re always on top of the world. Others handle feeling inferior through sarcasm and cutting others down. They may not even realize what they’re doing; they’re just trying to make themselves feel better. Some people respond with false humility, saying that they’re nobodies and don’t know what to do, even when that is not actually true. Others cope by trying to maintain control in whatever situation they’re in. We can so easily be discouraged when we look at others and compare ourselves with them. We don’t realize our acceptance and usefulness to God has nothing to do with our abilities. We can only see where we fall short.

When All Seems Lost

Just think about Moses. After he killed a man and ran away from Egypt, I’m sure he went into a season of deep discouragement. He lost everything. Forty years later, God came to him and said, “I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people . . . out of Egypt.” But Moses comes back with, “Who am I that I should go?” God tries to help Moses, letting him know that He will be with him, but Moses still says, “but I am slow of speech and of tongue” and makes all these excuses (Exodus 3:10–11, 4:10). Naturally speaking, Moses had everything going for him as far as his background. He grew up with a good education as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; he was rich and powerful and all these things. But none of that really helped him when it came to this moment in his life. What an example that no matter how strong we are, we can still come to the place through some failure in life where we feel like we’ve lost it all, we can’t do it or we’re not worthy anymore. In the midst of Moses’ arguments and excuses, God asked him a strange question: “What is in your hand?” (Exodus 4:2). All Moses was holding was a simple, dry stick. But that was enough for God, and He used it to do miraculous things.

Honesty with the Lord

When we feel like we don’t measure up, the answer is not to try to compensate by covering it up one way or another. It’s just to honestly say, “Lord, all I’ve got is a stammering tongue.” Then God can reply by saying, “The weak, fragile, dry stick in your hand, that is good enough. I will make you strong.” It is when we come to the end of ourselves that God can work. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” The more I struggle to find myself, the more ground I lose. But the more I lose myself in His grace, not depending on myself, the more I find life. Whatever the Lord has called us to do, I pray we will understand that our weakness plus Christ’s sufficiency equals absolute victory. This is the only equation that will work. Our weakness plus the mask we put on equals only emptiness. And our strength minus Christ equals total failure. Wherever you are in your walk with the Lord, I encourage you to speak honestly with Him. Maybe we need to be like Moses and need to pray, “Lord, I’ve heard what You’ve said to me, but I don’t think I can do it. All I have is a lifeless, dry stick that I have to depend on to walk through life.” And just like with Moses, I believe the Lord will answer us and say, “That’s enough.”

Lord, You promised us that You will never leave us nor forsake us. You are with us not only when we are victorious and do everything well, but when we are in the pits and don’t know what to do. None of us are strong in ourselves, Lord. Some of us are able to pretend quite well, but really, we are just like frightened little kids. Please, Lord, help us to acknowledge our nothingness and continue to draw strength from You and experience Your greatness. You are the One in whom we find everything we need. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Previous Post

July 25, 2019

Too Young to Be Useful

Next Post

August 5, 2019 Learning to Follow Christ

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Current Events Devotionals Field Stories From My Books Guest Writer Inspirational Personal Life Spiritual Growth Uncategorized

Select a Month June 2025 June 2024 May 2024 December 2023 October 2023 May 2023 April 2023 December 2022 August 2022 July 2022 May 2022 April 2022 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 May 2021 March 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz