DayBreaks for 7/02/18: The Almighty Hands
From the DayBreaks Archive, June 2008:
I remember my father’s hands. When I was a little boy I thought they were the strongest hands on earth. I could not imagine anyone having stronger hands than my dad. He was a farmer, so they were often battle-scarred and bruised. As a grown up, my final reminders of my dad’s hands were those of a man who was dying. There was no strength left in them, he was unable to move his fingers or grasp anything as he wasn’t conscious. His hands weren’t the young strong hands I remembered as a child. They were the hands of an old man, marked by the years, struck down by a heart that betrayed him.
Of course, now I realize that my dad’s hands weren’t the strongest hands on earth. I’ve often reflected on God’s hands. Now I realize that God is a Spirit, but Scripture speaks of His hands so often that I hope you’ll humor me when I think about God’s hands. What would God’s hands look like? They are busy hands to be sure, hands that created and fashioned man from the dust of the earth. From the time of my youngest imaginings, I have pictured God kneeling in the dust of the garden, leaning forward, scooping, molding, shaping, until finally he lifted up the form from the earth and breathed into it the breath of Life. Would there still be dirt on His hands from the creation of man? Are the Father’s hands scarred, like Jesus’ hands? Can you imagine how powerful they must be? What would a god’s hands look like?
In Matthew 19:13, we get a bit of a glimpse of God’s hands. Here’s what it says: Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus is the exact image of the Father. That means that his hands must reflect the Father’s hands. The little children were not afraid of Jesus’ hands. They were gentle hands, hands that conveyed comfort, tenderness, compassion – hands that imparted healing to the broken and sight to the blind.
Does it seem strange that God’s hands should be so gentle? As I pondered that thought (spurred by Don Evert’s God in the Flesh), I concluded that while it may seem strange that God Almighty’s hands that are so powerful are so gentle, it makes perfect sense. How else could He ever touch one of us if His hands weren’t so gentle? He knows our frame and how easily we shatter. And that’s why Jesus had such gentle hands.
PRAYER: Thank You for your tender hands that impart comfort and hope to us. Thank you for your hands that redirect us into safe pathways. Thank you for the power of Your hands to snatch us from the evil one and to carry us to heaven. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
COPYRIGHT 2018 by Galen C. Dalrymple. All rights reserved.