Category: Life

The Unseen Hand

5/28/2013

For a number of years, a large black and white portrait of me was displayed inside my childhood home. Regardless of the many houses we lived in, that picture could be found along with other family photographs either hanging on a wall or else sitting on top of a table somewhere in the house; many times in a prominent location to afford guests the opportunity to view it as well.

In this picture, a months-old chubby me is sitting upright on some type of thick towel-like material that had been arranged in such a way that a wide mound of it was immediately behind me. I always thought that it was the photographer’s way to add further dimension or interest to
the picture. It was not until many years later as my mother and I sat talking around the kitchen table that she shared the story of the events surrounding this photographic session.

The photographer had wanted me placed in a specific pose, yet I was still too young to sit upright on my own. To get the effect he wanted, the photographer had my mother place her hand underneath the mounded material behind me to steady me and give me support long enough for the camera shutter to be snapped.   Her hand is not visible to anyone who views the end result, yet her unseen steadying presence made me appear stronger than I was.

God’s unseen hand does the same for His children as my mother’s hand did for me in the photograph. He strengthens and helps us.

Isaiah 41:10 “I [God] will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

He watches over and guides us.

Psalms 32:8 “I [God] will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.”

And He cushions us from the jagged parts of reality that threaten to harm us.

Psalm 32:7 “You [God] are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”

While we may not be able to see His hand in our current situation, we have the assurance that He is always with us.

Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

If we really take a look back to the times when we have come through difficult circumstances, we can see the evidence of God’s Hand in these many situations that we have encountered and have somehow – impossibly – come through only because of the strength, protection and guidance He steadily gives us.

THE UNSEEN HAND
By A.J. Sims

There is an Unseen Hand to me
That leads thru ways I cannot see
While going through this world of woe
This hand still leads me as I go.

I’m trusting to The Unseen Hand
That guides me through this weary land
And some sweet day I’ll reach that strand
Still guided by The Unseen Hand

His hand has led through shadows drear
And while it leads I have no fear
I know t’will lead me to that home
Where sin nor sorrows e’er can come.

I’m trusting to The Unseen Hand
That guides me through this weary land
And some sweet day I’ll reach that strand
Still guided by The Unseen Hand

I long to see my Saviors face
And sing the story saved by grace
And there upon that golden strand
I’ll praise Him for His guiding hand.

I’m trusting to The Unseen Hand
That guides me through this weary land
And some sweet day I’ll reach that strand
Still guided by The Unseen Hand

This assurance of His unseen hand is available to you, too.  The choice is yours. He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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The Story Behind the Headline

3/5/2013

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We are surrounded by news reports.   Practically everywhere we go newspapers, televisions and electronic
devices broadcast streaming news headlines 24 hours every day to keep us updated on both local and worldwide events.   While it’s important to know what’s going on in the world, the consistent, steady exposure to the many accounts of horrific events has left us inured to it.

“Mother; 3 children missing”

“Body found”

“Massive pile-up on highway”

“Budget cuts”

“Major storm”

Headlines such as these have become commonplace to us; so much so that we are either no longer moved or moved very little by the words we read and hear.   Unable to have our emotions stirred, we are unable to feel any compassion for the victims or the victim’s family members, and as a result give little thought as to the extent this life-altering event has had on them.   Truth be told, it’s more common for people now to grow tired of hearing a news story that remains at the forefront of reporting agencies for too many consecutive days. We want to hear something else – something new – as we struggle to deal with the pains and tiredness in our own existence.

Both bad news and the weariness of the constant barrage of it are not modern day inventions.
Think about the following in comparison to our own current day society and see if you can’t notice some similarities.

In Jerusalem around the time of Christ, Jews had to pay 50% or more of their income to the government in taxes; slavery was common, with slaves either born into it, forced into it as a prisoner of war, or else they sold themselves into it to pay off debts; there were riots and uprisings against the establishment; rich people comprised roughly 5-7% of the population while around 70% of the population struggled to survive as they lived in poverty conditions.

Politicians tried to side-step tough issues or uncomfortable situations and opted to take the easier path (for them, at least and usually only for the short term), or else would detour it altogether by turning the responsibility over to someone else, who would in turn either return it to the initiator by refusing to accept it, or else pass it along to another (usually lesser-in-rank) politician to deal with it. Finally, they would grudgingly implement an act when they were forced into it by a well-timed threat of being reported (usually to a higher political authority) and would invariably accompany their decision by placing the blame and the repercussions for the act onto the heads of those who had demanded it in the first place.  (Read about Pilate in Matthew 27 to see this process played out.)

For all of our technological advances, society surely has not changed much in the last two thousand years.   And yet in the midst of all of this poverty, oppression and hopelessness, something new did happen that changed the face of mankind forever.

Luke 2:10 “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

What was this good news?   Christ, the Messiah, was sent to free us, to heal us, to release us from subjugation, and to show us the way of salvation.

Luke 4:18-19 (AMP) “The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound].”

Talk about good news!  You would think that such incredible news would be widely and enthusiastically embraced by this hurting and hopeless population, yet that was not the case. While there were those who did eagerly accept it, there were many more people who did not. Some refused to accept a Messiah who did not come as a conquering warrior with His legions of soldiers to rout the Romans who had oppressed them for so long so that a new kingdom – a Godly kingdom – could be set up in place of Roman rule.  Others who had only known a life full of hardships could not believe that they truly could be free, and instead chose to ignore this message of hope as they continued on in their life of never-ending despair and drudgery. And still others, who were used to the religious traditions with its many hundreds of laws and rules that must be followed, could not believe that salvation could come to them as easily as believing on the Christ. These individuals could not see the story behind the headline and missed out on the “great joy” the angel spoke of that is for all of us.

Colossians 1:19-20 “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [Christ], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Peace; hope; healing; freedom; salvation.  God, through Christ, offers us all of this and so much more than we could ever imagine.

John 10:10 (KJV) “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:  I [Jesus] am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

This Good News story will never grow old and is available to us all. The choice is yours.   He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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Quenchable Thirst

2/28/2013

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We have all been there at one time or another.   See if this sounds familiar to you.

There you are, busily working on some project or task that requires your full concentration.   All of the elements are just right and you are ‘in the zone.’   Ideas are flowing, amazing headway is being made and time has all but stopped when, seemingly out of nowhere, that deep down dryness develops in your mouth and throat. You try to ignore it, but the more you do the more insistent it becomes.   With more focused concentration, you return to your task, determined to push through to the end. However, a relentless tickle develops in your throat and unable to disregard the nagging dryness for one second longer, you run to the refrigerator or the kitchen tap in search of your favorite beverage.   You voraciously – hungrily - gulp down swallow after swallow of the cold, refreshing liquid hoping to slake this terrible thirst as quickly as possible so you can resume work on your project before either the inspiration and/or the energy fully abandons you.

In developed countries, we take a consistent, abundant and potable water supply for granted.
In many areas of the world, they do not have this luxury.  Throughout the history of our world, whenever a source of good water was located, people would congregate and communities would build up around it. If the source dried up or was contaminated with salt or other fowl tasting element, people would leave it in search of a more reliable source of cleaner – sweeter - water.

God, who is our infallible source for all things human, tells us in His Word that just as a salt spring cannot produce fresh water, so too we should not both praise God while cursing men.

James 3:9-12 “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.   My brothers, this should not be.  Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?   Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

How often have we all refused to let go of some past hurt, ill treatment, unmet expectations or disappointment as we continue to rain down negative talk onto the head of the one who caused this pain and left us haunted with these painful memories?

One common feature of both water and the tongue is that they can be either life-encouraging or else life-diminishing.

Proverbs 18:21 “The tongue has the power of life and death.”

As can be seen in the above verse, there is not a distinction made between the speaker and the one to whom the words are being spoken about. Life - or death - can come to us through the words that we speak.

Matthew 12:34b “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

Christ came so that we could have life if we so choose.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Thirst has another definition besides a desire to drink. It also means to have a strong craving;
to yearn.

In the secret recesses of ‘you,’ what is that you yearn for when you are alone and still with your thoughts? What is that unquenchable thirst that leaves you searching for fulfillment that you have, so far, been unable to find?

John 4:13-14 “Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water [from Jacob’s well] will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give
them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.””

Christ longs to give you this living water that only He can supply. It alone will quench your
thirst as you travel through your wasteland. And once you accept it, you will have everything you need for true refreshment in every area of this life: forgiveness for past deeds (both done
by and to you), help for the present, and unflinching, unchangeable hope for the future.

Isaiah 43:18, 19 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I [God] am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

Revelation 22:17b  “Let the one who is thirsty come;  and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”

The choice is yours:  salt water or sweet water; death or life. Bring your cup.   He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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The Unseen Hand

The Story Behind the Headline

Quenchable Thirst

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