Holy Ground/Holy Hands/Holy Lips
A meditation on how to let God use you for His glory
This is holy ground
We're standing on holy ground
For the Lord is present
And where He is is holy
The angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush. He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn’t burn up. Moses said, “What’s going on here? I can’t believe this! Amazing! Why doesn’t the bush burn up?” God saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Yes? I’m right here!” God said, “Don’t come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You’re standing on holy ground.” (Exodus 3: 2-5 MSG）
What a sight for Moses! Here was something that you didn’t get to see every day. Something that made him stop in his tracks and want to take a closer look. He knew he was looking at something special, and that was confirmed when he heard a voice - the voice of God! - calling out to him from within the bush, telling him to take off his shoes as a sign of respect. This is a special place. This is holy ground.
But we don’t have to see a burning bush to feel a sense of awe before God. God is present everywhere. Every ground we stand on is holy. As poet and priest Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”
→ Pause for a moment now, breathe, and feel the presence of God, right where you are. If appropriate, you might want to try taking off your shoes or socks to feel the touch of the ground with your feet. Thank God for being so intimately close to us, wherever we are, in every moment.
These are holy hands
He's given us holy hands
He works through these hands
And so these hands are holy
I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the People of Israel, out of Egypt.” Moses answered God, “But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3: 9-10 MSG）
Imagine Moses’ shock! First he sees a burning bush, then he hears the almighty God speak, out of that same bush, telling him then that he must lead his people to the Egyptian ruler. “Me?! Go to Pharaoh?! You must be kidding!!”
Yet God works through us humans. He works through our hands. He works through our bodies. He works through our whole lives, imperfect as we are. Just as God did amazing things through Moses, He will do amazing things through us, if we let Him.
The point is exactly that we can’t do it all by ourselves, we need to rely on God and that’s what gives him glory!
→ Take a moment to look at your hands. Think of them as instruments for God’s work. Give thanks for the work that has already been done through your hands and imagine what more God might want to use them for. In your own words, dedicate your hands and the work of your hands to the glory of God.
These are holy lips
He's given us holy lips
He speaks through these lips
And so these lips are holy
Moses raised another objection to God: “Master, please, I don’t talk well. I’ve never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer.” God said, “And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn’t it I, God? So, get going. I’ll be right there with you—with your mouth! I’ll be right there to teach you what to say.” (Exodus 4: 10-12 MSG）
Apparently most people are more afraid of public speaking than they are of death - Moses obviously falls into this category! Yet God’s reassurance was clear: He would give him the words to speak. With God, there’s really nothing to worry about (Psalm 23:1).
When we say “Do all for the Glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31) it’s not about achieving something for ourselves. It’s about letting God work through us. We’re not the heroes here: God is. That’s why we don’t need to worry about what we see as imperfections - God uses those too!
If we acknowledge and dwell in the presence of God, he will use our hands, our lips, our entire lives for His glory.
→ Touch your lips and think of the gospel of Christ flowing through them in the words you say today. Pray that God will use your words, actions, emotions, and thoughts for his holy purposes, thanking him for the unique role he has planned for you.
––Nick Ashley