H: His Hands
The phrase "hand of God" has been looked at in a variety of ways!
Begginning from Maradona's winning goal in the world cup...to the sinister ways in which things are done in my country only to atttribute it to "the hand of God"....the phrase has been more often misused than used appropriately.
Sometimes it has also been used to denote a punishment...or a misfortune in one's lfe, implying that something unfortunate has happened in one's life as a form of punishment from God.
Do some people think of their lives as being bound with the "Puppeteer's strings" and God or karma....will carry them as "was willed or destined"...here again we see the control of the sinister "hand of God".
For me, the Hand of God has meant comfort. So often, I picture God standing behind me, laying His hand on my shoulder and comforting me. Have I been sad and dismayed? Have I been lost and broken? I can feel His hand.
Sometimes the hand on the shoulder is also a hand of encouragement or even the proverbial "pat on the back". Have I been afraid or discouraged? Does the mountain before me seem too steep to climb or the valley I walk through too dark and deep? Verily, I find his hand resting on me.
My Bible teacher, as he read this verse, would remind us of a daily custom we follow at home. Psalm 139: 5 "Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me." It is customary in our society to seek our elders' blessings each morning. We go before them and bow our heads as they lay their hands of blessing.
Perhaps David's culture would have something similar to identify with as he wrote this psalm.God goes before us (past) and behind us (future) and lays His Hand upon me (blessings for the present day).
Do I need to write about holding hands? Haven't we all needed a hand to hold? Haven't we all felt closeness in holding the hands of those we love? How often have our parents held our hands when we were small? Will we need our children's hand to hold when we age? What about holding hands of brothers,sisters, friends and lovers? What would it mean to have God holding our hand?
I remember a friend who came to me discouraged with his life, uncertain of his walk with Jesus. He told me of how he had given up hope and simply unable to hold on to God's hands. I was reminded then of the verse in John 10:28 which says " And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." All I could understand at that time was...even when we let go...God doesn't!!! and any one dare try to "pluck our hand away from His"!!!!
Cheers! and here's a beautiful song to that:
Begginning from Maradona's winning goal in the world cup...to the sinister ways in which things are done in my country only to atttribute it to "the hand of God"....the phrase has been more often misused than used appropriately.
Sometimes it has also been used to denote a punishment...or a misfortune in one's lfe, implying that something unfortunate has happened in one's life as a form of punishment from God.
Do some people think of their lives as being bound with the "Puppeteer's strings" and God or karma....will carry them as "was willed or destined"...here again we see the control of the sinister "hand of God".
For me, the Hand of God has meant comfort. So often, I picture God standing behind me, laying His hand on my shoulder and comforting me. Have I been sad and dismayed? Have I been lost and broken? I can feel His hand.
Sometimes the hand on the shoulder is also a hand of encouragement or even the proverbial "pat on the back". Have I been afraid or discouraged? Does the mountain before me seem too steep to climb or the valley I walk through too dark and deep? Verily, I find his hand resting on me.
My Bible teacher, as he read this verse, would remind us of a daily custom we follow at home. Psalm 139: 5 "Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me." It is customary in our society to seek our elders' blessings each morning. We go before them and bow our heads as they lay their hands of blessing.
Perhaps David's culture would have something similar to identify with as he wrote this psalm.God goes before us (past) and behind us (future) and lays His Hand upon me (blessings for the present day).
Do I need to write about holding hands? Haven't we all needed a hand to hold? Haven't we all felt closeness in holding the hands of those we love? How often have our parents held our hands when we were small? Will we need our children's hand to hold when we age? What about holding hands of brothers,sisters, friends and lovers? What would it mean to have God holding our hand?
I remember a friend who came to me discouraged with his life, uncertain of his walk with Jesus. He told me of how he had given up hope and simply unable to hold on to God's hands. I was reminded then of the verse in John 10:28 which says " And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." All I could understand at that time was...even when we let go...God doesn't!!! and any one dare try to "pluck our hand away from His"!!!!
Cheers! and here's a beautiful song to that:
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