BEING USED

 AUGUST 15, 2022

Exodus 4:1-5

4 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”

2 Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.

3 “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him

. . So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.

4 Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand.

5 “Perform this sign,” the Lord told him. “Then they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—really has appeared to you.”

Exodus 14:16

16 Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground.

1 Samuel 17:40

40 He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.



It is remarkable how God can use anything to accomplish His purposes.

We witness this throughout the Biblical story. With Moses, God used a simple staff to perform miraculous signs and show His power, and ultimately freeing the Israelites from Egyptian bondage (Ex. 4:1–5; 7:19; 8:5, 16; 14:16).

God delivered David from the hand of Goliath with a little sling and a stone (1 Sam. 17:40).

The simple offering of five barley loaves and two fish generously handed over by a boy was used by Jesus to feed a multitude of five thousand with leftovers to spare (John 6:1–14).

And there’s even a story in the Old Testament where God spoke through the mouth of a donkey (Num. 22:21–39)!

If God can use a staff to perform miraculous signs and wonders, use a sling and a stone to save David, turn five barley loaves and two fish into enough food to feed thousands, and speak through the mouth of a donkey, I believe that tells us, assures us, that God can use you and me and anything in our lives to accomplish His purposes.

So, be open, attentive, and discerning for what God may desire to use in your life.