TRUSTING IN THE HAND OF GOD

The bible has a lot to say about the hands of God. His hands are called holy, his hands are able to save, mighty, full of mercy and fury. His hands are able to form the universe, he can create what is seen and what is not seen. With his hands he lifted the mountains to their heights and brought the oceans to their depths. His hands have dominion over every power in the universe. In the story of Jonah he prepared a great fish, in other words he commanded a great fish that could swallow a man to be where he appointed it to be to do his will in the life and ministry of Jonah. His hands created the ground that provides everything needed and wanted for all life on Earth. Everything you have ever worked to obtain or desired to own or possess, came from the ground, we even came from the ground. In our bodies are found all the same minerals that are found in the ground. God’s hand provides for all life, all the time, all at once! His hands are mighty, they are able, they are wonderful, and best of all they are continuously extended toward you!

GENESIS 1:31 - Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.

Have you ever thought about the vastness of the Earth and the universe?
There is literally forever in every direction. I wonder how many stars there actually are. The bible says that not only did the hand of God place every star but has also counted them and named them. Psalm 147:4 He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. What an incredible thought! God can create such a vast and complex universe and know and name every single detail in it. Within the vastness of the world and universe we have our lives. Living up close and personal to something so big and complex makes it easy to get lost inside of it. We have created so many things that demand so much of our attention that we lose focus on what is really important. The one who created all things has told us what is important.

ECCLESIASTES 12:13 - Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

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THE HAND OF GOD IS WITH YOU

ISAIAH 41:10 - Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed for I am your God.

“TAKE A LOOK BACK”
Billy Graham once said as an old man just before he died, “ I see the hand of God most when I look back on my life, I see his leading and protection”.

Sometimes in life it can feel like God isn't with us. Sometimes we feel like we are alone with so many odds stacked up against us. There are times when it seems that the dreams we have will never come to pass. We face situations that seem impossible, circumstances that are unbearable, and loss so heavy that we think it impossible to recover. It is in these times that we need to look back at the hand of God in our life. Take a look at the exodus of Israel from Egypt, when God caused the Red sea to split and they crossed on dry land (Exodus 14:22). A similar event happened in Joshua 4, Israel crossed the Jordan Sea in a miraculous way, and when they had crossed, Joshua had them build an altar to remember this day. Joshua 4:6-7 that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.” We need to look back on all that God has brought us through, and build a spiritual altar by praising God and worshiping him for what he has done in our lives. When we do this our faith will be strengthened. We will be able to look at our situation and say you know what, things dont look like I want them to right now but I know what God has brought me through and he will bring me through this! In doing this we will find ourselves living out the first part of ISAIAH 41:10 FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU; BE NOT DISMAYED FOR I AM YOUR GOD.

When we trust in the hand of God we have a promise from him, that his hands will provide for us and bring us through anything we face.

Isaiah 41:10 also says that God's hands will strengthen us, and help us.

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THE HAND OF GOD WILL STRENGTHEN YOU

ISAIAH 41:10 - I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you.

“GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO MORE, TRUST THAT HE WILL MAKE YOU MORE”.

The reason most people never try to make a difference in the world is not because they are incapable to do so, it's just that they don't believe they can. What is it that holds us back? Why do we just go through the motions of life? Most of us feel like we are insignificant, we feel like our voice doesn't matter or we don't have anything to say that anyone wants to hear. If you know Jesus then you have the best news anyone could ever hear, don't keep it in! I want to briefly take a look at the life of Jonah. Jonah is considered one of the minor prophets by scholars. Not because his ministry was minor but because of the size of the book. Jonah was a prophet during the time of KIng Jeroboam 2 during the 8th century B.C. The book of Jonah is very unique because it is the only book of a prophet that is written in story form where the others are messages from the prophets. Jonah is called to go to Nineveh and preach to them so they would repent and turn to God. Jonah's response to that calling was to run the other way. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire. Empires were built by the conquering of other countries and enforcing their laws and taxes on those countries as well as taking their people and resources. Jonah was an Israelite of the northern kingdom of Israel which was under the oppression of Nineveh. You could imagine the fear he must have had about what God has called him to do. Jonah experiences some amazing things in this four chapter book. He runs from God on a ship, he experiences a storm on the sea that even the professional seamen had never seen. He is thrown overboard in the storm where a great fish swallows him and takes him where God called him to go. Then preaches one of the largest revilas the world has ever seen. As amazing as these things are, I want to focus on the struggle between Jonah and God. God wrestles with those he calls. God wrestled with Jacob (Genesis 33:22-32) Out of that struggle Jacob was blessed. His name was changed from Jacob, meaning deceiver, to Israel, meaning one who wrestles with God. Out of that struggle he became someone who bears the name of God before the world. God also wrestled with Jonah about his reaction to his calling. In that struggle he changed Jonah into someone who would go out and make an impact on the world. God is also calling you to go out and change the world with the Gospel. Will you allow him to strengthen you and make you more than you could be?

When we wrestle with God we allow him to come in and change us on the inside and strengthen us, we begin to live Isaiah 41:10- I will strengthen you, yes, i will help you.

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THE HAND OF GOD WILL LIFT YOU UP

ISAIAH 41:10 - I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

“JUST TRUST”
What a promise we have to be held up by the Hands that created and sustain everything! The hands that led Israel through the wilderness, through countless perils and hardships and battles. The hands that led the christian church in its early age through opposition and persecution into what it is today. We have a promise from God that no matter what we face his hand will be with us. There are times in life that we are going to fall, but when we live in the grace and mercy of God it is into his hands that we fall and he lifts us up (proverb 24:16 For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again). Jesus told us that in this world we would have trouble but to take heart because he has overcome the world. You may be facing a difficult time right now, but I want to tell you that if you will trust in the hand of God, and obey the word of God you will have a peace in the middle of the battle that can not be shaken! With the promise of God comes the instruction of God. God’s provision is found in the seeking of his presence. Too many times we say we trust God without obedience to him. To trust God is to trust all of him, not just the blessing part. One thing we can not have full control over in our lives is the ever changing state of our circumstances. One thing we do have full control over is our ability and willingness to follow God with all of our heart. We must never let ourselves be in the category of those whom Jesus rebuked in Matt 15:38 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. We have to trust God when no one is looking, obey him when no one will praise us for it, and be a man after God's heart even when no one claims that we are. Trusting in the Hand of God over your life means doing things the way he says to do them. We set aside our opinion of things and walk according to the word of God. The scripture says in psalm 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way. I would rather the whole world be against me and know that I have lived in a way that ensures my own heart that God delights in my ways than have everyone on my side and know that I did not obey him in the little things.

We have a choice to make today. What kind of men will we be? Will we honor God with our lips, and draw a crowd? Or honor him with our whole hearts, minds, words and actions and draw his presence near to our everything? I want to challenge you to trust God today. Repent of what God is showing you in your heart that is holding you back from being what he has called you to be. Sometimes we need to fall for our own good, let us fall into the Hands of God so that he can lift us up as a new man! In doing this we will see the scripture we are talking about come to life in us, ISAIAH 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.