08/11/2021
Our lives are held in the hands of the Lord, and as much as we would like to think that we are in control of our destiny we can’t add a single minute to our years. God can rescue us from disaster, He will save us from those who would do us harm, and His eyes never lose sight of us. No matter the perils we face, His arms are always stronger, and his grip on us never fails. We are most certainly secure in His hands.
“My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!”
Psalm 31:15 ESV
It was summertime in Augsburg, Germany, and I was a rising sixth grader. My very good friend Gino Palm was home for vacation from a special school he attended in England for children who were deaf and dumb, and we had planned to meet this morning on the playground and then explore the woods nearby. As I approached the playground I heard an awful racket. Gino was screaming the unintelligible sounds of the deaf, and I could hear boy’s voices shouting and taunting him. As I rounded the last house I saw two older boys with a bull whip and they were whipping Gino with it.
Now Gino was a good sized boy, but he was as gentle as a lamb, so rather than fighting back he was shielding himself and trying to get away from them. I knew these boys and they were tough kids and bigger than me, but I didn’t have much time to dwell on that so I ran into the fray, grabbed the bull whip and knocked one boy down while grabbing the other in a strangle hold from behind. I was out-sized and this should have taken a bad turn for me, but I held the one until he crumpled to the ground and hit the second one as hard as I could in the face. To my surprise he grabbed his nose and took off running. The other boy picked himself up, and ran after him in full retreat.
Gino was still vocalizing, but quickly calmed down and hugged me. Some might say I was feeling the effects of adrenaline, but I knew better… It was a God thing. When I left to meet Gino I had no idea what was about to happen, but the Lord did. In fact, adrenaline or not I should have been beaten to a pulp. The Lord had rescued me, and allowed me to save Gino in the process. Looking back on that day I know that I was in His hand. His strength had become mine, and that incident bonded Gino and I into an amazing friendship.
When we disregard our own personal safety, and wellbeing, to help another it is a godly act. Sometimes the Lord would lead the Israelites into battle, sometimes He would give them instructions, and on occasion He would actually fight for them. Then, when He felt it was the fullness of time, He sent His Son to die for them… and us.
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:13 ESV
So those things we call coincidences, luck, or fate, are not those things at all; they only seem that way to those who don’t believe. It is easy to miss, or misinterpret, what we aren’t looking for, or not expecting to see. So often we blind ourselves by attributing the movements of God to the natural world in which they occur.
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV
So when we look at our lives do we see chance, and karma, or do we see the strong hand of god that is serving as our underpinning?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for holding us in your hand, and directing the many wonderful happenings in our lives. Thank you for taking the viciousness of two bullies and using it to erase the fear from a boy through the love he knows for a friend. You teach us lessons every day, and so often they come suddenly upon us without warning, and sweep us up without giving us time to do anything but what you have placed within us as instinct. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God whose Son abides in us, and leads us to see your hand in all we do. Praised be your name for every war that you win for us, or battle that you guide us in as we are somehow victorious. Merciful are you for the goodness that you show us in the midst of terrible circumstances, and for the unlikely victories you give us. You led Jesus to defeat of sin and death on Calvary, even though those who were watching felt certain it was defeat. You give believers sight, and cloud the eyes of the unbeliever, but we pray that you use us to deliver the gospel to those who see only the wind of the world, and not the spiritual wind that blows before you to announce your coming. Lift us in your hand Father, and wash us with the blood of Jesus… cleanse us, forgive us, and lift us to meet your Son Jesus in the sky.
Rich Forbes