In The Hands of Jesus
Introduction
In the hours, following the birth of our first child, I was still numb from the wonder of the experience. It was as though everything was moving in slow motion amidst a dream you never wanted to awaken out of. I was overwhelmed by the fact I was really a father and she was really my daughter. As I tried to let it all sink in, I could not help but lie there and stare at her for hours. A week before her birth, a baby was stolen from another hospital, so I took in every detail of her being to make sure I would always be able to identify her. I was amazed at the intricacy of her construction. Her fingernails and toenails were sculpted with exact precision, and her nose was molded with beautiful artistry. Her skin was a form of silk I had never touched before. And her eyes...OH, her eyes...studied every movement of my lips. She was a living doll!
Yet, while in this intimate moment, I was unexpectedly brought back down to reality. While stroking her hand, her tiny fingers latched around a single finger of mine. When I saw her smallness against my largeness, I was reminded of her dependence on me, and my responsibility to take care of her.
Of all the characteristics of Christ, the thing that captures my attention most is the fact He is an intimately personal Lord. Time and again we read in His encounters with men and women, and that He took them "by the hand." It is compelling to note that in each of those occasions, His hand arrived during severe moments of crisis. Whether it was Peter's mother-in-law with a fever, Jairus' daughter dying, a blind man stumbling, or Peter drowning, the hand of Jesus knows when and where to find us.
In the touch of His hand, there is a bond and connection made that the enemy strives to break. However, when Jesus views our smallness against His largeness, His hand goes to war on our behalf! When you think of the Lord's hands, what details do you find there?
I. In His Hands, We Find Unbroken Security
In John 10:28,29, Jesus is referring to His children when He says, "neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand...and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand."
Interestingly enough, there are some who question this security as though it were possible for them to remove themselves from His hand. Is that possible? In John 17:12, Jesus says further, "While I was in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept..."
The first time He says "kept" it means "to guard from loss or injury." However, the second time He says "kept" it means "to prevent escape."
Isaiah understood why permanent security was found in the hands of the Lord when the Lord said to him in 49:16, "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands..."
If our lives were merely a loose item in His hand, the question of dropping or jumping could arise. But, when the Lord has taken time to tattoo you into the very fiber of His hand, He can turn His hand in any direction He chooses and never lose a tattoo!!
II. In His Hands, We Find Unrestrained Sensitivity
In describing the new Heaven and new earth in Revelation 21:4, John makes a powerful observation; "and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes..." He neither sends angels, prophets, nor parents, but the Lord personally wipes away all tears with His hand!
Where do you turn and to whom do you run when your eyes need drying and your nose needs wiping? During the spring when my son was playing baseball, he fouled a pitch straight up and struck his nose. When I sat him down, I had a napkin in hand, but the blood was already drying on his face. As the tears were streaming down, I used his tears to wet the napkin which allowed me to remove the blood. In wiping away our tears, the Lord is doing so much more than simply drying our eyes. His gentle touch helps purify our spiritual complexion! Oh, the delight He takes in touching our tears.
III. In His Hands, We Find Undisputed Sovereignty
In Psalm 31:15, David learns a truth to rest and rely upon when he says, "My times are in thy hand." You might ask, "Just how much control does the Lord have of my life?" The answer: total!
Solomon saw the total control in the Lord’s hands and we know this by the way he expressed it in Proverbs 21:1, "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it wherever He will."
Just like the steering wheel of a car, it may be attached to the car, but it is aimless without hands providing direction. Our lives are merely like poured, wet cement, and our destinies lie within the framework His hands have bordered around us.
In Genesis 2:7, when God "formed" man, it literally meant He "squeezed him into shape." To most of us, being squeezed is a symbol of pain and discomfort. However, when it is performed by the hand of God, you may just find He is wrapping you around His little finger!