In Exodus 14:15-16 we read, “The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to move forward [toward the sea]. As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the sons of Israel may go through the middle of the sea on dry land.” (AMP)
Moses’ Hands
This is a familiar incident from the history of the people of Israel. The Israelites were fleeing from Egypt, and were faced with the Red Sea ahead of them, and the Egyptian army in hot pursuit of them. As they faced this serious situation, they cried out to the Lord to deliver them from this impending peril which seemed the most acceptable thing for them to do when in such a crisis. The Lord’s response to Moses was “Why do you cry to Me?” The Lord instructed Moses to lift up the staff, and stretch out his hand over the sea so that it would divide, and make a way for the people of Israel to go through. The Lord’s directive to Moses and the people of Israel was simple; God was affirming the fact that He had given the authority to do the miraculous into the hands of Moses, and all he had to do was to believe, and execute the same. The power and authority to part the Red Sea was truly in the hands of the Lord, but the Lord gave that authority to Moses, so that the multitudes of Israelites would also know that God had placed Moses in that position of authority. It was only then, that they too would be willing to submit to the leadership and authority of Moses.
We too must recognize that our hands are not ordinary hands, and that the Lord has invested His extraordinary power into our hands. Often we don’t recognize this authority that the Lord has entrusted to us, and keep calling out to the Lord not realizing the potential inside of us. If we are willing to stretch out our hands with faith in the Lord, we too will see signs and wonders.
Whenever the Apostles in the early church stretched out their hands and prayed, the power of the Holy Spirit came down on all who were there, and the Lord worked mighty miracles through them. We too have the same power of God in our lives as did the Apostles. If we exercise that anointing, and place our hands by faith on the sick, or pray for a person who is facing an adverse situation, the Lord is able to intervene to do the miraculous and bring healings and deliverances. So also when we have issues related to our children, we should learn to claim God’s promises and pray with faith over every things that concerns us about them. God’s word is full of promises that we must personalize, and claim for our every point of need.
As long as we are hesitant to exercise our faith and are unwilling to do as the Lord instructs us to, we will not witness the mighty acts of God in and through us. Whatever is placed in our hands, we should learn to use it by faith, and when we do so the Lord will be glorified through our lives.
Isaac’s Hands
In Genesis 26:1 we read, “Now there was a famine in the land [of Canaan], besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham.”(AMP)
In Genesis 26:12 it says, “Isaac planted crops in that land. In that same year he harvested a hundred times as much as he had planted because the Lord had blessed him.” (GW)
There was a severe famine in the land of Canaan during the days of Isaac. As the situation turned grim, Isaac thought it best to move out of Canaan, and go into Egypt as he heard that there was food in Egypt. God instructed Isaac to not move to Egypt, but stay on in Canaan. Isaac decided to obey the Lord. All that Isaac had in his hands was a little grain. Instead of using it all for food for his family and himself, Isaac decided to do something by faith, and decides to sow some of the grain that was in his hand. At the time of severe famine when circumstances were unfavorable, by faith he decided to sow the seeds, and the outcome was that the Lord blessed him, and he harvested a crop a hundred fold that same year.
In times of crisis when we go to the Lord, we must be willing to obey His word, and remain in the place that He has determined for us. It is in staying rooted to the place where the Lord wants us to be, will we be able to bear much fruit. Only when we are willing to sow will we reap a harvest. We can be people of two categories, ones who give or ones who receive. When we sow generously we will surely harvest abundantly. If we are constantly seeking to be on the receiving end, it only implies that we have not come to the place of sowing as the Lord expects of us, and as long as we are not sowing, we can never experience God’s blessings in our lives.
One of the secrets for the growth of the early church, was that they received much, but gave much more, and the Lord blessed them beyond measure. They went out into the world and placed their hands on the sick, and the sick received healing. They went out to preach the gospel, and thousands responded and entered into the Kingdom of God.
Let us like the early church believers be those who will go out to sow love and mercy. Let us pray for those outside the church. It is only when we reach out to those who are in various kinds of needs, and by faith stretch out our hands in prayer over them, can we see the demonstration of God’s power in their lives.
We read in 2 Corinthians 9:10, “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”(NRSV)
There is an incredible truth in the above mentioned verse. God gives seed only to the one who is willing to sow. For one who is content to just receive, He will only give bread for food. The reason God gives more to the sower, is so that he will multiply the seeds, and thereby increase his harvest.
The multitude of more than 5000 whom Jesus fed with the five loaves and two fish, after they had had their fill, they just returned to their homes and a little later they were also part of the crowd that wanted to crucify Jesus. One of the reason for much of the discord, disharmony and politics within the church today, is because the purpose of its existence has been forgotten. We have consumed so much and have forgotten to sow, and give as the Lord intended for us to do. Let us pray much, that the Lord will make us those who are willing to go out and sow and not be content with just receiving and consuming. Food that we receive will perish in a short while, but when God places seed in our hands and we are willing to sow, we will reap a great benefit and harvest.
Hands of the Widow from Zarephath
In 1 Kings 17:7-9, we read “After a while, the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land. The Lord told him, Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told a widow who lives there to provide for you.”(NET)
In the above mentioned chapter we read about another famine. The stream that provided water for Elijah dried up because the land had no rain, and now God instructed the prophet to go to Zarephath, and look out for a widow, who would provide for him. She was a poor woman, with nothing much in her hand.
Let’s read to see what she did have. In 1 Kings 17:12 She said, “As certainly as the Lord your God lives, I have no food, except for a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. Right now I am gathering a couple of sticks for a fire. Then I’m going home to make one final meal for my son and myself. After we have eaten that, we will die of starvation.” (NET)
All that she had in her hand was just a handful of flour in a jar, and a little olive oil in a jug. When Elijah requested for a drink of water, and a piece of bread from the poor widow, her response was one of despair. She told the prophet, the little she had was only enough for her son and herself to eat, and then for them to await death. She had come to the end of her resources.
If we were to take a look at ourselves, we too may realize that each of us only have a little in our hands. That little could be God-given talents, time, profession, income, family and so many other blessings, and it’s up to us to choose to use it all on ourselves or sow these blessings so that they will bless others. They in turn will multiply, and come back to us a hundred fold, helping us to sow more. If we are not willing to sow, the end that awaits us will only be death. Many believers are unwilling to sow what the Lord has committed to us, but it is only when we are ready to sow will we bring life to those around us. The greatest blessing of sowing is that we will reap the benefits, and so will all those around us.
We read in 1 Kings 17:13-14 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you planned. But first make a small cake for me and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the Lord makes it rain on the surface of the ground.’” (NET)
The Prophet Elijah encouraged the widow to lay aside her fears, and instructed her to go and do as she planned, but also requested her to bring him a small cake from the little flour and oil that she had. As she went home, she must have been in a dilemma; should she use the flour and oil to make cake so that she and son could eat and die, or should she obey the prophet and be willing to make that cake and take it to him. She believed the word of the prophet who said, ‘The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the Lord makes it rain on the surface of the ground.’ The widow decided to be a sower. God’s word to her was clear, and the prophet affirmed it, but now it was in the hands of the widow to obey or not to. It was now in her hands to sow or just consume the little that was left. By her sowing, the Lord honored her faith, and truly the bowl of flour did not get empty, and the jar of oil never did run out.
A little later, the son of the woman got ill and died. By the widow’s obedience to provide for the prophet, she kept the prophet alive all through the period of famine and because the prophet lived, she got her dead son back to life.
If we want to see miracles in our life, our faith has to be tested, and only when we pass the test will we see the mighty wonders of God. This is also our constant dilemma whether we should take care of ourselves or whether we should sow. Each one of us must by faith consciously decide to be those who sow. This lies entirely in our hands. Let us use all that God has placed in our hands, for His glory and use all of our talents and not bury them.
In a young boy’s hands
When we think of the young lad who gave up his lunch of five loaves and two fish to the disciples, we can’t help but wonder at the faith of his mother who packed the lunch for the young boy, probably knowing that he would have to spend many long hours listening to the words of Jesus. The Lord tests his disciples by asking them to find a way to feed over 5000 people who were hungry and tired. The disciple who found the boy’s lunch, and took it to Jesus must have also had tremendous faith that the Lord could do something miraculous with the small lunch. The young boy gave his lunch away with faith, and the disciple also had much faith in the Lord. The little boy could have decided not to give his lunch to the disciple when they asked him for it. Generally, children will not part easily with anything that belongs to them. Faith began to grow in the heart of this young lad who heard the words of Jesus. He decided that if he gave what he had to Jesus, he will not go back hungry, and that the Lord could bless and use the little to bless the great crowds.
There are some of us who feel, that what we have in our hands is meager. However, if we are willing to give it up, the Lord can take it, and make it such a great blessing that we too will become partakers of the abundant blessings from the Lord. All of us can give many testimonies of the many blessings we received from the Lord; these could be about healing, finances, protection, provision etc. These testimonies are those shared by those who only are content to receive, and not from those whose intention is to sow. However, the testimony of those who sow will be about, how they were used by the Lord to bless, and restore others around them.
In Abraham’s hand
When God wants to bless us He will first test our faith to see if we are willing to be those who sow willingly.
We read in Genesis 22:2, God said, “Take your son—your only son, whom you love, Isaac—and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering ….” (NET)
Also in Genesis 22:10 “Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter his son.” (NET)
Genesis 22:11 “But the LORD’s angel called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” (NET)
God told Abraham take ‘your son, your only son, whom you love’. God wanted Abraham to give up his son, knowing full well that Isaac was very precious to him. When the Lord started to speak to Abraham, he probably thought that God was going to bless Isaac just like He blessed him. Abraham would not have expected in the least that God would ask him to sacrifice the son of promise whom he loved dearly. Abraham was more than a hundred years old, and his wife was way beyond child bearing, but he was willing to obey the Lord whole-heartedly. He was willing to lay his son on the altar, and with a knife in his hand was ready to sacrifice the only son whom he loved greatly. He had utmost faith that the Lord could raise his son from the dead or he could give him many more sons more than Abraham could imagine.
Most of us would never want to be where Abraham was, but Abraham believed in God fully and received his son literally back to life. God blessed Abraham in ways beyond human understanding.
He blessed Abraham by saying in Genesis 22: 17-18, “I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their enemies. Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.’”(NET)
Only if we are willing to sow with extraordinary faith will we receive extraordinary blessings from the Lord. Consuming and receiving is always temporary, but when we sow the secret is we will keep on reaping an eternal harvest.
Let’s recap how the rod in the hand of Moses parted the Red Sea, the seeds in Isaac’s hand brought a hundred fold harvest, the widow’s giving hand brought her dead son back to life, the lunch in the hands of a young boy fed thousands, and Abraham’s willing hand made him and his generations a great blessing to many nations. The question before us is ‘what is in our hands?’ Instead of keeping it to ourselves, and spending it on ourselves, if we are willing to sow whatever is in our hands generously, by faith, as the Lord leads us, we will certainly reap an abundant harvest a hundred fold.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
