WHAT IS IN YOUR HAND?

May 27, 2026
By Marvellous Eje

A popular phrase I am sure we have all heard is you reap what you sow. And as somebody that grew up cruising through life without putting in too much effort, I really didn’t ever truly understand this statement, despite thinking I did. In fact, I latched onto the phrase “you reap more than you sow,” to the point where I often used it as an excuse to put in very little effort and expect so much in return. So, life really started to shock me when I realized just how much intentionality is needed.

The first thing I had to come to terms with is “To reap you must first sow.” It sounds so simple and yet we neglect it so often. Yes, it is good to learn from others, but we cannot eternally piggyback off the knowledge and experiences of others without having to put in any effort for ourselves. Do we realize that we possess something that also bears fruit?

Moses is a prime example of this. In Exodus 4:2-3, God asked him what was in his hand. And all Moses saw was a mere staff, yet when he threw it to the ground it became a snake. Not just a snake but a sign used to communicate God’s desire for the freedom of the Israelites: a symbol of the authority of God and his ability to use us no matter how insignificant we feel. But how often do we love to overlook the gifts God has given us because we don’t deem them as channels for His kingdom? How often do we belittle what God has given us to use? Like Moses, we don’t know what our gifts can do, but if we simply give them to God, He knows what to do with them.

I look at David, a man that wrote poetry and is notorious for it. He is known as a man after God’s heart, a man that wrote with so much vulnerability and passion, that I wonder daily how he could get to that level of articulation. And God used a poetry he wrote in his moment of despair to prophesy of times to come.

In Psalm 22:1a he wrote “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”

And Jesus uttered these same words on the cross of Calvary when he died for you and me. Yet we often try to categorise the gifts and skills we believe God can use in our lives. But if David hadn’t written this down because he deemed it as insignificant, we wouldn’t have known about this act of intentionality that God used to prophesy of His son’s coming. Oftentimes we let this thought process take over our mindset, where we see some gifts as more significant that others, because deep down we are using people as an indicator for the relevance of our gifts, rather than God. But Romans 14:12 reminds us that the opinion of man is not as important as the approval of God.

Romans‬ 14‬:12 – “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” ‬ (KJV)‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Oftentimes, we inflate the amount of effort we think we have put into developing our gifts. We mistake laying foundations for building intentionality. That small effort that you made a random Tuesday last year can lay the foundation for the development of your gift, but it cannot be compared to consistently sowing seeds and building that gift. That consistency comes with discipline; showing up even when it is not convenient and using your gifts even when it’s requiring more vulnerability than you’re used to showing.

I love to look at this through the lens of a seed: when planting a seed, you need to plant it in the right environment, tend to it daily and not plant it near other seeds that will compete for its nutrients. Similarly, with the gifts God has given us: we ought to place our gifts in environments where they can grow rather than just exist, be intentional about improving, and finally, we ought to protect it from environments of comparison or unnecessary competition, causing you to shrink and hide your gifts.

We see so many examples in the Bible of people who had gifts that were initially overlooked but later became a means of breakthrough and victory for God’s people. We see this in the case of Joseph who was mocked by his brothers for his dreams, interpretations and discernment. Eventually, we see that this gift opened doors for him that paved the way for many. This same discernment helped him to interpret Pharaoh’s dream and save nations even before they knew danger was coming and led to his elevation. And no, we don’t use our gifts so we can be seen, we use our gifts that Jesus can be seen through them. But our gifts can also reach out to people that we can’t imagine reaching. But first, we must use them.

This is not to disregard the importance of protecting our gifts and allowing them to grow in the hands of God. Just like a seed is hidden in good soil before it can grow, we hide ourselves in God and lean on him for direction. Also, the significance of the right timing should not be overlooked. It is very easy to get carried away by the results you want to see that you forget the need to be strategic and position yourself accordingly, which leads to rushing before harvest time is near.

So again, I ask you, what is in your hand? And what are you doing with it?