Hold and Be Held

God spoke these words through Isaiah to God’s people Israel. We are also God’s people, those who believe in God, Father Son and Holy Spirit. It is written to you, today.

Read this out loud, slowly, and meditate on each phrase…

Isaiah 43 v1-4 NLT

“But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.

For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour…You are precious to me. You are honoured in my sight, and I love you”.

Many smaller churches are stretched and struggling as life has changed since covid. Many secretaries, treasurers, gifted members and givers have either died or moved away.

But rather than being downhearted and discouraged, they choose to look up to God and hold His promises close. Prayer has deepened, God is at work and new life is slowly rising from the ground. Some small churches are choosing to meet for regular encouragement, teaching and fellowship. We are stronger together especially through these difficult days.

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Put your hand in God’s hand

“And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
(part of a poem by Minnie Haskins)

My small church read this together on the last Sunday of 2019. We prayed that we would daily put our hands into God’s hand in the new year. Little did we know what lay ahead in 2020…!

I searched the Bible for references to ‘hand’ and found over 1600! The hand often signifies God’s power such as winning battles and rescuing His people eg. Deut 6:21 “the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand”.

Other references say ‘the hand of the Lord is upon me’ to mean the Spirit is speaking and directing the way through words or visions eg Ezekiel 1 v3.

In other places, the hand is used to impart blessing or in commissioning (5 times in the NT). A handshake is a sign of agreement and promise. To be placed at the right hand of royalty is a high honour, such as Joseph in Egypt.

But as we know, the hand that blesses or embraces can also be the hand of discipline as David expresses in Psalm 32 or when Moses was refused entry to the Promised Land in Numbers 20.

We have choices daily how to use our hands: to bless or to hurt, to serve or to grasp selfishly, to embrace or to push away.

The question is ‘what do you have in your hand?’ Right now. Let’s decide to use what we have and get busy helping others to a saving faith in Jesus.

There is a Latin phrase, ‘et teneo, et teneor’ which means ‘I hold and am held’. This is my prayer for us all this new year, to hold the hand of God and to be held by Him through all the circumstances and opportunities ahead in 2021

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Our hand in His hand in 2020

“And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
(part of a poem by Minnie Haskins)

My church read this together on the last Sunday of 2019. We prayed that we would daily put our hands into God’s hand in the new year.

I looked in the Bible for references to ‘hand’ and found over 1600! Many say ‘the hand of the Lord is upon me’ to mean the Spirit is speaking and directing the way through words or visions. In other places, the hand signifies power such as the laying on of hands imparting blessing or commissioning. A handshake is a sign of agreement and promise. To be placed at the right hand of royalty is a high honour, such as Joseph in Egypt.

But as we know, the hand that blesses or embraces can also be the hand of discipline as David expresses in Psalm 32 or Moses being refused entry to the Promised Land in Numbers 20.

We have choices daily how to use our hands: to bless or to hurt, to serve or to grasp selfishly, to embrace or to push away.

There is a Latin phrase, ‘et teneo, et teneor’ which means ‘I hold and am held’.

This is my prayer for us all this new year, to hold the hand of God and to be held by him through all the circumstances and opportunities ahead.

Read Full Post »