"What is that in your hand?"

I have a pile of bills to be paid.
Several piles of papers to be graded.
A laundry pile that I've endearingly nicknamed "Mt. Everest."
A pile of soil in the back seat of my car (flower pot tipped over).
And a list of calls, texts, and emails to be returned... two weeks ago.

I just washed a pile of dishes in the sink tonight.

Just like yours, my hands are very full. Sometimes it's "fun full." Juggling a theater rehearsal, dinner party, and a coffee date doesn't exactly stress me out. But I admit, my enthusiasm wanes just a bit when it comes to paying bills, grading, and keeping that dentist appointment. It can even feel like spinning my wheels, causing me to ask the age-old question, "What's my motivation?" Shouldn't life be more... well, "more"? What's really being accomplished in all my daily tasks and obligations?

And then Exodus 4:2 reminds me that God uses the mundane and even monotonous to accomplish His awesome, holy purposes.

In response to Moses' objections to leading His people out of Egypt, God asks Moses, "What is that in your hand?"

"A staff," Moses said.

Or a red pen.
A bill.
A phone.
A load of laundry.

"Throw it on the ground," God instructed.

So Moses did, and it turned into a snake.

"Put out your hand and catch it by the tail"--so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand--"that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."

Sure the circumstances are a bit different: God was preparing Moses to perform awesome signs and wonders with this simple staff. But how much more could we, filled with God's Holy Spirit, glorify God and see Him do wonders in our lives when we simply offer to use what's in our hands?

Last week I dragged myself to Wednesday chapel. I was dying to "ditch" and use the time for other things: grading, running errands, catching up. But I knew I should be there. A student cornered me afterward to ask me some amazingly deep life questions. God was working in her heart, and we talked through our lunch break--even got teary-eyed together as we realized God had ordained a very special conversation. And I walked away with a very full heart as I realized that being faithful in a mundane responsibility meant an amazing ministry opportunity.

How many times have I missed such opportunities? Too many to count...

Lord, help us be faithful to wash these dishes, pay these bills, clean this house, talk to this person, and finish this task--with the confidence that You will take our humble service and use it to Your great glory and for Your awesome purposes!