Morning Dew

Key Passage: Exodus 14

Key Text: Exodus 14:16 – Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.

Our thoughts are very powerful. Growing up I used to say a person is only limited by the scope of his dreams. Today I know better. It’s not the dreams but the thoughts that really make great lives. So many people are plagued with this unfortunate condition of being trapped in limitations and cannot rise out of these confinements by elevating their thoughts. I am a pathological optimist, but I know not everyone is like me and there are a lot of us that are pessimists. The bible tells us that ‘as a man thinks in his heart so is he’.  Limitation of thoughts is natural, and we all fall into this trap sometimes. We are limited because we are looking at the meagre resources or scope of our abilities, experiences, qualifications etc and we automatically place a limit on ourselves.

The bible is replete with all sorts of stories of people who had little or nothing, but with God, what they had that seemed insignificant, was turned into something quite great. Today’s passage is a classic. Moses has just led the children of Israel out of Egypt; they were now at the Red sea, with no apparent bridge of way to cross over. Compounding this situation was a very angry Pharaoh and his army pursuing them and wanting to take them right back into slavery. (Just before Moses got this commission, God had asked Moses a simple question. ‘Moses, what’s that in your hand?’ He answered ‘A rod’). Moses was quite alarmed and went to cry out to God for help. God’s answer to him must have shocked him. God asked him, “Raise the Rod in your hand and stretch it over the Red Sea?”

All Moses had in his hand was a rod. A simple rod! God told him to stretch the rod over the Red Sea and the Red sea would part and Israel would go through on dry land. Let’s not just gloss over this point. Was it the Rod, Moses or God at work? God has the uncanny ability to use our ‘inconsequentials’ to produce outstanding results. Look at David with a sling and five smooth stones and a giant called Goliath. Who would have believed that God would destroy Goliath with a small boy’s catapult? Look at Jesus feeding of the 5000. All he used was the lunch of a little boy. Five loaves and two pieces of fish. But put in the hands of the Master, it became more than enough. How about the woman, a widow who was being harassed by a creditor? Who would have believed that the jar of oil she had in her house would be sufficient to pay off her debts? How about the four lepers by the gates of Samaria, who decided to go towards the enemy’s camp, and God used their ambling steps to scare off a whole army of Syrians. The list goes on and on.

Are you faced with an impossible situation? Are you looking at limited resources? Let me ask you the same question God asked Moses. What’s in your hand? Do you have a little talent? Do you have a little prayer? A little word or even a little saving? Whatever you have in more than enough in the hands of a mighty God. Just give Him you small thing and let Him do with it what you can’t ever do with it.

This is the God we serve. Don’t despair, just trust Him and let Him show you how valuable that little thing you have in your hand really is. God can do miracles with your rod. “your tongue”. He could bring down a giant with your sling and stones. “Your prayers”. God can feed the multitudes with your own little lunch, your five loaves and two fish. “Your little knowledge of the bible”. And that Jar of oil in your life, “your anointing”! God can use to break every yoke of debt on your life.

Let’s Pray: Father God, I thank you that what you have given me is more than enough for what you want me to do for you. I also want to thank you that my little is quite big in your hands. Today, I ask you to help me recognise the things that are in my hands that I may not think are important, but with you can become quite mighty. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.