The power and possibilities of hands are amazing. We can use them to creatively build or violently destroy. They can be used to caress or to cripple. They can be instruments of good or of unspeakable evil.
An enduring image of comfort and assurance is of "the LORD, Yahweh, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm" (2 Kings 17:36). The image of "an outstretched arm" is one of action. Make no mistake: Our Father's omnipotent arm is outstretched and His hands are prepared for action. They are hands of care and caress for His children, but hands of judgment and wrath for the evil and unrepentant.
I'm reminded of an image shared by a participant in a group silent prayer time recently. This person envisioned reaching her hand toward the bright light that is our Father and was surprised to sense a powerful image of the Father reaching back to her. The God of "the outstretched arm" was active in that group experience, offering a comforting and reassuring hand to one of His own.
We serve and worship a God of action. He once reached out His hands and formed the first humans, and our entire human history has since been filled with instances of His hands being active in the events and lives of His most personal creation. His hands have hurled fiery judgment on unrepentant cities and have directed watery judgment on an evil world. But His loving and provisional hands have also parted waters, provided food from heaven, and restored the sick and raised the dead.
We are in the hands of the God of the outstretched arm. This truth is the source of unspeakable comfort and assurance for His children in the midst of severe trials. Though trouble will touch His children, they are safe in the Father's hands amidst even the most severe trials. Jesus perfectly reflects these thoughts in saying,
"I give eternal life to them, 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." (John 10:28-29)
A well-known insurance company declares itself to be "the good hands people". The God of the outreached arm with loving hands is ultimately so. May you find peace and security in His hands today as you face trials of various kinds.
Steve
An enduring image of comfort and assurance is of "the LORD, Yahweh, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm" (2 Kings 17:36). The image of "an outstretched arm" is one of action. Make no mistake: Our Father's omnipotent arm is outstretched and His hands are prepared for action. They are hands of care and caress for His children, but hands of judgment and wrath for the evil and unrepentant.
I'm reminded of an image shared by a participant in a group silent prayer time recently. This person envisioned reaching her hand toward the bright light that is our Father and was surprised to sense a powerful image of the Father reaching back to her. The God of "the outstretched arm" was active in that group experience, offering a comforting and reassuring hand to one of His own.
We serve and worship a God of action. He once reached out His hands and formed the first humans, and our entire human history has since been filled with instances of His hands being active in the events and lives of His most personal creation. His hands have hurled fiery judgment on unrepentant cities and have directed watery judgment on an evil world. But His loving and provisional hands have also parted waters, provided food from heaven, and restored the sick and raised the dead.
We are in the hands of the God of the outstretched arm. This truth is the source of unspeakable comfort and assurance for His children in the midst of severe trials. Though trouble will touch His children, they are safe in the Father's hands amidst even the most severe trials. Jesus perfectly reflects these thoughts in saying,
"I give eternal life to them, 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." (John 10:28-29)
A well-known insurance company declares itself to be "the good hands people". The God of the outreached arm with loving hands is ultimately so. May you find peace and security in His hands today as you face trials of various kinds.
Steve
posted by steve @ 9:24 AM
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