Then the Lord said to [Moses], “What is that in your hand?” (Exodus 4:2)
Almighty, Eternal God, Ancient of Days, hallowed be Your name. Your name is Your promise—All Sufficient, Self-Existent, Infinite in Power—I AM THAT I AM—I Will Be What I Will Be. This is the way You revealed Yourself to Moses, instructing him to relay to a nation that You simply and unfathomably ARE; that You Will Be What You Will Be.
O Lord, how we identify with the struggles of Moses to grasp Your "God-ness!" Even as he stood before Your power, Your might, Your sufficiency; even as You revealed Your greatness and Your infinite reach, he was preoccupied with doubt, worry, objections, limitations, scenarios of failure (Exodus 4:1).
So often, this is the way, we too, Lord, come before You—so consumed by our fears our worries, our trepidations and our anxieties—that we are unable to see the mighty God before us. Open the eyes of our heart, O Lord God! Give us perspective! Help us to see You!
Our Savior taught us to enter into prayer with the words, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name..." (Matthew 6:9), and no wonder! Jesus was teaching us to prepare our hearts, our thoughts to be in the presence of the Almighty. He was teaching us to become centered on Your holiness, Your majesty, Your power, Your Being.
For it is only then that we begin to understand that You ARE, that Your Name is Your promise. We begin to grasp that You Will Be Who You Will Be—Supreme Ruler, King of kings, Provider, Purifier, Savior, Debt-Canceler, Deliverer, Defender, Protector, Healer, Sustainer, Advocate, Counselor—everything that follows in our prayer—more than we can ask or imagine.
And You begin to challenge us as You did Moses, "What is that in Your hand?" You begin to show us that before a mighty God, our commonplace tools become instruments of power and of divine achievement. Our lowly staffs become signs and wonders, our homemade slings become giant-slayers, our modest lunches become community feasts.
Oh Lord, give us Your vision! Teach us to know You as God, the God Who Simply IS, the God Who Will Be What He Will Be. Teach us when to wait, and when to act. Show us when You want us to be the answers to the prayers we pray.
Teach us how to surrender our outcomes to You, confident that the battle is the Lord's. Transform us from mindsets of powerlessness and impotence, limitations and objections. Move us from fret and worry to faith in action. Let Your will be done in and through us.
Shamgar had an ox-goad, David had a sling,
Dorcas had a needle, Rahab had some string,
Samson had a jawbone, Moses had a rod,
Mary had some ointment but—
They all were used of God.
~ H.P. Main ~ Published 1944
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