What is in Your Hand? – by Harriett Ford

What is That In Thine Hand? 4:2 KJV

God instructed Moses to cast down his staff (Exodus 4:2-4). What did that staff represent? Everything that Moses was: his status, his profession as a shepherd, his means of provision for his family.

God never said to throw it away, but simply to cast it down. Here was Moses' opportunity to accept a great assignment from the Lord, if he cast down his all.

Moses obeyed and saw his staff turn into a hissing serpent and he ran. When he took it by the tail, it turned back into a staff. However, this time it represented much more than a lowly shepherd's staff. It represented the very authority of God and the anointing for leading God's people. It is also a picture of a man throwing down all that he has in his hand, the symbol of his life's status, in order to gain all that God has for him. 

As I ponder the prophetic significance in these few verses, I see three layers of meaning: literal, spiritual, and prophetic (see 1 Cor. 10:11). The wooden staff also foreshadows the tree on which Jesus died to conquer that old lying serpent, the devil. 

I found myself praying, “Father, what is in my hand that I am not casting to the ground? My status? My finances? My voice? Here is my all Lord, I cast it to the ground. I want your purpose to unfold in my life.” What a joy to know His rod and His staff will equip me. 

Harriet Ford is a Stonecroft ministries speaker and the author of four books. Her Bible study: If God Wants Me Well, Why Am I Sick? is selling out regularly at the Copper Coin in Branson. Contact