THE
HANDS OF GOD (Part II)
You are a designer original because, of the
seven billion people alive on Planet Earth, no one has your particular hands or
fingerprints. Our hands are truly powerful,
both figuratively and literally. However,
despite the power and potential resident in human hands, it all pales in
comparison to the omnipotent hands of
God! Thus, no human being can
boast of any degree of self-actualized or self-attained success. Indeed, every bit of our goodness and
usefulness is the handiwork of GOD.
(James 1:17) Herein is the uniqueness of
humanity. As God’s creative finale, we are
touched (directly) by the hands of God.
Bottom-line: ALL OF US
continually stand in need of a touch by THE MASTER’S HAND! But many err, not knowing one simple truth:
The KEY to receiving GOD’S HAND…is seeking GOD’S FACE. (Psalm 27:8)
There is a direct cause
and effect connection between our hands
and God’s hands. That is, what we do with our hands has a direct impact on what GOD does with His hands.
Therefore, Psalm 134:2
invites us to “LIFT [OUR] HANDS in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord.” Therefore, I Timothy 2:8 requires us to “LIFT
UP HOLY HANDS, without wrath and doubting.”
And James 4:8 reminds us, “If you draw
nigh to God…He will draw nigh to you!”
What we do with our hands has
a direct impact on what GOD does with His hands.
In other words,
OUR HANDS, lifted in PRAYER AND PRAISE, ACTUALLY MOVE GOD’S HANDS! As the old song goes, “When PRAISES go up…BLESSINGS come down!” Our grandparents confirmed this truth via another
simple song: “If I couldn’t say a word,
I’d just WAVE MY HANDS!” JESUS and US…HAND IN HAND…what aN AWESOME TEAM!
Since we are on the same team, perhaps we should
develop some Hand Signals with
OUR GOD! How so? First let’s take a look at the natural, then
we’ll better apprehend the spiritual. Some
years ago, I visited my family in Pennsylvania and I attended a professional
baseball game featuring the Pittsburgh Pirates versus the Houston Astros. I observed secret hand signals between the
pitcher and the catcher, unknown by the batter and the opposing team. Through silent hand signals, they were able
to communicate the kind of pitch that should be thrown, e.g. a fast ball, a curve
ball, etc. This private communication
enabled them to gain an advantage over the opposing team.
Similarly, WE NEED TO DEVELOP HAND SIGNALS with GOD, unknown
to our enemy – just in case we might get into a bind and need His help – just
in case things get so intense that we cannot speak out loud to Him! We need spiritual
hand signals! Daily intimacy with
Christ is mission critical to this interpersonal communication process. It is the underlying reason for David’s determination
to commune constantly with God, despite temporary situations or setbacks. He vowed, “I will bless the Lord at all
times. His praises shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34:1)
From the very
beginning, the hands of Jesus Christ
were anointed. (Acts 10:38) But there is
another reason why there is such supernatural healing virtue in HIS hands. It is because SCARRED HANDS HEAL BEST! That is, JESUS CHRIST became OUR WOUNDED
HEALER. In other words, HIS WOUNDS…HEAL…OUR
WOUNDS. (Isaiah 53:5)
Just in case you
missed the scriptural announcement, we too (GOD’S PEOPLE) are WOUNDED HEALERS. As ambassadors of Christ, our wounds carry
the potential to heal the world’s wounds.
That is one reason why we have gone through so much in our personal and
professional lives. Nevertheless, even
when we are wounded, even when our vessels become marred, we are still in THE
POTTER’S HANDS! (Jeremiah 18:1-4)
Question: Wouldn’t you
rather be in GOD’S HANDS, than in the hands of men? In case you are wondering what GOD has in
Mind for us, the ultimate design of the Creator is to SHAPE US INTO HAND
TOOLS! As CLAY IN THE MASTER’S HANDS, God’s
ultimate goal is to SHAPE US INTO HAND TOOLS that are useful and usable by Him! The intended end-result is this: WE BECOME
THE EXTENDED HANDS OF THE LORD! WE
BECOME POWER TOOLS OF CHRIST! The
Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman church, “for you are back from death and you
want to be tools in the hands of God,
to be used for his good purposes.” (Romans 6:13, The Living Bible) We are in God’s Hands for a very distinct
PURPOSE. That is, HIS POWER IS ON DISPLAY
IN US. In other words…WE ARE IN HIS HANDS...in
order to…BECOME HIS HANDS!
Jesus Christ summarizes
our place of power with these words: “These signs shall follow them that
believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new
tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it
shall not hurt them; they shall LAY HANDS on the sick, and they shall
recover.” (Mark 16:17-18)
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