Tag: God’s invisible hands

  • Infrared Light and Faith

    Campfire - pondering the unseen

    I sat out by the campfire, pondering light and life. There was so much more going on in the fire than I could see. I could see the flames because they emit visible light. I could see, taste and smell smoke because it hung in the air. I could feel the warmth from the flames.

    I couldn’t see the wood gases that were actually burning. I couldn’t see the wood turning into charcoal. I couldn’t see the infrared (IR) energy being emitted because it lies outside the visible spectrum. If I had a thermal camera, I might have seen the IR waves.

    IR light isn’t visible to us, but it surrounds us. Everything above absolute zero emits some level of infrared radiation. Even though we can’t see it, it’s reflected off trees and other surfaces and impacts us. A little can warm us and increase blood flow. It can be used in some forms of physiotherapy. Too much IR can cause burns, heat rash and even eye damage.

    Just as IR has an impact even though we cannot see it, God is working in ways invisible to us. His presence may be hidden, but He still provides for us, reaches out to us and is working in our lives.

    There is nothing anywhere in the created universe that does not owe its beginning and continued existence to God’s power and presence. If He withdrew His presence for even a split second, everything would collapse and disappear.

    Fortunately, we don’t have to physically see Him for Him to work in our lives. We have the Scriptures and their testimony. We have the Holy Spirit (if we are believers), or He calls us (if we are non-believers).

    For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— 2 Corinthians 5:1-7

    What a marvelous gift, to be given the faith to walk even when we cannot see the way of the hands that guide us.

    Maybe you’ve never considered faith as a gift, but Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it clear. We are saved and guided by faith, and all of that is a love gift from our Heavenly Father.

    Praise His holy and generous name.

    Be blessed,

    Kevin

    Check on this post on “False teachers“

    SUMMARY

    I sat by a campfire and realized how much was happening that I couldn’t see: burning gases, wood turning to charcoal, infrared energy radiating outward. It struck me that God works the same way, present and active even when His hands are hidden from our sight.

    TAKEAWAY

    Everything above absolute zero emits infrared radiation, invisible yet powerfully real in its effects 

    God’s presence sustains all creation even when it isn’t visible to us 

    2 Corinthians 5:1-7 and Ephesians 2:8-9 remind us that faith, not sight, is how we’re meant to walk

    The importance of Reading God’s Word

    God promises us His Holy Spirit

  • 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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