IN GOD'S HANDS

 

Fear thou not; for I am with thee:
be not dismayed; for I am thy God:
I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help
thee; yea, will uphold thee with the
right hand of my righteousness.
Isaiah 41:10

When faced with a difficulty, I wonder how many times someone has said to me: “Just remember that it's all in God's hands.” There are times I've wanted to tell the person that I've known that for years, but it's always good to hear it anyway. I love any of the verses in Scripture that speak regarding God's hand. We are encouraged when we read of God's ability to function in mighty ways with His hands. For instance:

The right hand of the Lord is exalted:
the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.
Psalm 118:16

and

That all the people of the earth might
know the hand of the Lord, that it is
mighty: that ye might fear the Lord
your God.
Joshua 4:24

All of those words regarding the capable hands of God are encouraging. However, in our day, we also must remember that we do not have a namby-pamby God who winks and blinks at the sin and corruption of the people of the earth. God is a God of grace and mercy but like any loving Daddy, He will correct His children. We're in the process, I believe of that correction in our own country. There is so much Isaiah speaks of but 14:26,27 speaks volumes.

This is the purpose that is purposed upon
the whole earth: and this is the hand that
is stretched out upon all the nations.
For the Lord of hosts hath purposed,
and who shall disannul it? And His hand is
stretched out, and who shall turn it
back?

Why should anything going on in our country come as a great shock. We may not have done some of the things of sin others have done that are more open to the public. What have our “nicer” sins been that have contributed to the overall sinful attitudes of a nation. How many of us Christians have dipped our flags of good standards, Godly behavior and attitudes of decency. We can't look down our judgmental noses at all of the sin and wrongdoing of others in our country when we have made our own contributions to the downward spiraling of our nation.

I will always say that much fault rests with the pulpits of our country where the preaching in many places has been watered down and a subtle compromised Gospel preached. We Christians have fallen for much of the “political correctness” that has poisoned us in so many ways. Look at the things of the world we have come to rationalize and even embrace. We used to have black and white...right and wrong...but now there is mostly gray where everyone decides what is right or wrong for them as individuals. We Christians to a great extent have lost our witness. The world says we look, live and talk like them and in many cases the world is right.

In Revelation 2, John wrote to the church at Ephesus...”thou hast left thy first love.” To the church at Laodicea in 3:15,16: “ I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” In that same chapter, verse 19, God says also: “ As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” Bottom line,

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God.
Hebrews 10:31

In this blog, my hope is to encourage us that our very loving Heavenly Father is in charge and is in control. With loving hands He created this earth of ours and has sustained it. He sent His Son to die for us that we might have eternal life. We are too attached to this old earth. Heaven is our real home. However, meanwhile, God wants our best while we are here, but He will not compromise His Word and purpose for each of us. Despite conditions here in our country at the present, things are in His very capable hands and He hasn't given up on one of us.

Despite the negatives all around us, I'm encouraged with the following:

Thou wilt shew me the path of life:
in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy
right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Psalms 16:11

Thank You Father for Your faithfulness to Your children. I pray for our country right now. There's nothing new that can be revealed to You as far as the sinful doings of folks. Do what You must to bring us back to Yourself. Meanwhile, I thank You for Your loving, guiding and great hands that reaches out to us all the time. In Jesus precious name...Amen