God's Hands

Isaiah 41-43

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

To me, the right hand is always a picture of the strongest side---the best side. God upholding me with His right hand tells me that He is right there (literally...LOL) and is giving His best side to me to hold me up.

He assures me again...
41:13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

Obviously if He is holding my right hand, I am now on His left side meaning to me that God is all around me. His right hand holding me...Him holding my right hand.

This verse cracked me up...
41:13 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

I don't know what spiritual application I am supposed to get from that, but it makes me laugh that You, Lord, called them a worm and then promised to help them. Makes me think of a mom saying, "Quit whining you, brat, here's your lunch." Maybe it helps me to know that sometimes God gets "fed up" too. Well, maybe there is a more spiritual word for "fed up" but I can't think of one. :)

43:2 When thou passest through the water, I will be with thee; and through the river, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flames kindle upon thee.

In this verse, God doesn't promise me that I won't go through the waters and fires, but that when I do, they shall not overwhelm me or destroy me. Trials are sure to come, problems, burdens inevitably come, but they are only to make God's presence more real to me.

I think also of Psalm 13 where it says "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou are with me"

Sure, I feel close to my husband when we are walking side by side on a breezy beautiful day, but it's when we are in the midst of trouble and he holds me and assures me that everything will be okay that I feel the closest to him. Such is the same with my wonderful Saviour.

43:7 Even everyone that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

Wow!! To really think about that...I wasn't just a mass production from God. He formed me. Every little detail He decided. Like piece of clay wielded in the potter's hand. All for His glory. I've never been one of those that hates this or that about my body, I guess, I'm pretty content with the way that I was made, but when I do despise those moles :) I can remember they are God's thumbprint on me. :)

All these verses beautifully tie together in helping me to understand the work of Your hands, LORD. They hold me, they help me, and they form me. What a reassuring thought to know that Your hands continue to hold and guide me even today. LORD, help me to be aware of Your hand and willing to hold it to lead me today. I love You, Abba.