Category: God’s Faithfulness

  • Hands

    Safe in the hands of God

    Hands are marvelous things.

    This morning, I remembered a football player acquaintance who has had a career in both the CFL and NFL. He had hands the size of hams. I wear a size large glove, but my hand was dwarfed when we shook hands. The championship rings on his fingers seemed nearly as big around as my watch dial.

    A friend of mine worked the oil rigs in his youth. He is missing the ends of two fingers on one of his hands. Several cowboy friends are missing the ends of their thumbs from getting caught in their ropes.

    I have had the pleasure of shaking the hands of many hard-working people. Callused and rough from a lifetime of hard work, they exuded strength. A carpenter I know has several flattened fingertips from hitting the wrong nail. His hands are as strong as iron and as gentle as a kitten.

    Hands are strong but can be quite gentle and tender. They enable us to do things that would otherwise be impossible. They enable us to touch one another.

    Hands can bring healing, or they can bring hurt. A gentle hand can convey tenderness and compassion. An angry, upraised hand can bring bruises. An open hand can signify friendship or a gesture of surrender. They can be uplifted in worship or clasped in prayer.

    As I thought about hands, I pondered the hands of God, both the literal fleshly hands of Jesus and His metaphorical “hands.”

    The power in those “hands” is incredible. He could crush the world out of existence if He so desired. Yet his “hands” are gentle enough to create the minutest of details in the universe. His hands touch the lives of even the most insignificant individuals and circumstances.

    Jesus allowed his human hands (and feet) to be pierced with large, rough Roman nails to pay the penalty for our sin. Although He could have stopped it all in an instant if He chose to, even though He could have poured out wrath and judgement on his tormentors, He chose to stay his hand and act out of mercy.

    God knows the smallest of details about us. He knows more about us than we know ourselves, both the good and the bad. He chooses to place His infinitely powerful hand upon us.

    His hands created us, they sustain us, and our very breath is provided by His hand.

    His hands protect us. Those hands judge the world and its inhabitants, and offer mercy and salvation.

    There are no better hands to hold us and protect us,

    Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV

    I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:28-30 ESV

    Being held in the hand of God is no guarantee against earthly calamity. We live in a fallen, broken world inhabited by sinners. However, it is a guarantee that He won’t waste our suffering and that our destiny is sure in Him.

    Until next time, rejoice in the shelter and safety of God’s hands.

    Kevin

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  • For the Birds – God’s provision

    male white-crowned sparrow

    Our yard is aflutter with birds. The rear of the property is fenced, keeping out most predators. The seed feeders and hummingbird feeders (in season) stay busy with various birds. The trees and brush provide plenty of nesting sites.

    We see chickadees, dark-eyed juncos, nuthatches, robins, Northern Flickers,  sapsuckers, doves, half a dozen species of sparrow, varied thrushes, common redpolls, and many more species regularly. There are also many LBJ’s (little brown jobs, small birds that I don’t get a close enough look at to identify). 

    We can watch bald eagles, hawks, ravens, and crows soar above us.  Geese and ducks often fly noisily overhead. The other day a flock of sandhill cranes flew overhead whooping away as they traveled. At dawn and dusk we are serenaded by a wide range of song birds.

    We often sit in the yard and watch and listen. Many birds are so accustomed to us that they will come within a couple of feet of us. We are not seen as a threat unless we suddenly move in their direction.

    A passage of Scripture often comes to mind as I watch them. 

    “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:25-34 ESV

    Appropriate words for the times we are in. 

    Our security nets have eroded. The political world is in chaos, and our economies are in shambles. There are wars, rumors of wars, plagues, and natural disasters on what seems an unprecedented level.

    Yet the birds go about their daily lives, completely unaware of what makes us fearful. God looks after them and will watch over us as well. Things might be difficult for a season, but He has not abandoned us, nor will He.

    The LORD  is our source, our strength, our comfort, and He is our peace. We can rest in Him whether things get better or worse. No matter what the world throws at us, we can withstand it joyfully in Him.

    When it gets too much, take a minute to watch and listen to the birds and look to the Savior. If you live where birds are scarce, go online and watch some videos of them.

    Until next time, consider the birds and trust in Jesus.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

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