Whose Hands Are You In? Part 1
Scripture: Exodus 3:19-20; 1 Peter 5:6-7; Psalms 139:14
Introduction:
I received an email a couple of weeks ago from a friend of mine. The email was simply titled "Hands". As I read the email it really made me think. Here are a few excerpts from the email:
„X A basketball in my hands is worth about $19. A basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands is worth about $33 million. It depends on whose hands it’s in.
„X A baseball in my hands is worth about $6. A baseball in Mark McGuire’s hands is worth about $19 million. It depends on whose hands it’s in.
„X A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal. A rod in Moses’ hands parted the Red sea. It depends on whose hands it’s in.
„X A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy. A sling shot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon. It depends on whose hands it’s in.
These are just a few of examples the email mentioned that started me to thinking. I thought about things that I well with my hands and things that I cannot do regardless of the instrument that are in my hands to complete the task. For example, no one in their right mind would pay me to endorse their products because I hold and swing a golf club, but they will pay Tiger Woods millions. A circular saw, some wood, screws and a drill is just a circular saw, wood, screws and drill in my hands. But in a carpenter’s hands they can become the framework for many things, including a house. A sewing machine in my hands is just a sewing machine that I am looking to put down somewhere. A sewing machine in my wife’s hands becomes clothes, drapery, etc. It all depends on whose hands it is in. While that email resonated within my mind I saw a commercial on the television that really brought everything home to me. In the commercial it showed several bad things happening such as a car wreck, house flooding, home damage caused from severe weather. It showed people trying to find a way through a maze of paperwork in order to have their damaged items repaired through their insurance company. Then the spokesman comes on and explains that his insurance company would easily take care of all of your disasters if your insurance policy was with them. Their slogan goes like this: "You’re in good hands with Allstate." Ever seen that commercial?
This morning I ask you, "Are You In Good Hands?" There are many people walking around professing to be Christians yet they do not operate as if they are in good hands, God’s hands. There are many good Christians who do not understand the meaning of what it means to be in God’s hands. One point that I want to make clear is this, you can be saved and on your way to heaven and still not have everything pertaining to you in God’s hand. Your salvation may be in God’s hands, but the things you experience daily while here on earth can very much be in your hands or someone else’s hands. Throughout this series of messages I want you to remember one thing, regardless of whose hands your situations are in, only one set of hands guarantees the best outcome and that’s God’s hands. This morning’s message is the introduction to this short series on what it means to be in God hands and likewise what it means to put things in God’s hands.
I. God’s Hands
There are over 185 references to God’s hands or the hand of the Lord in the Bible. These references refer to or demonstrate God’s supreme and almighty power and authority. Sometimes the phrase include words like "right" (31 times), "mighty" (10 times), and "strong" (3 times). Let me read a few of these for you:
"Thy hands fashioned and made me altogether and wouldst Thou destroy me?" Job 10:8
"O sing unto the a new song, for He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him." Psalm 98:1
"¡K¡KThe right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly." Psalm 118:15b-16
"¡K..But the God in whose hand are your life breath and your ways, you have not glorified." Daniel 5:23b
When considering the references to God, you cannot help but walk away with a sense of awe that Someone so powerful would be mindful of someone like you and I. In the book of Exodus we find a situation where God told Moses that He would bring the Children of Israel out of Egypt with His hands. Exodus 3:19-20 records the following: "But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go except under compulsion. So I will stretch out My hand, and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go." Exodus 3:19-20 (NASB)
Notice that in this conversation that Moses had with God that God never said that He would do anything under the power or through the power of Moses. God said that He would lead them out under His power. Moses was just the vehicle that God used. Nothing was done through the power of Moses, but because Moses was in God’s hands, God was able to use Moses to carry out His will. Let me give you an example. Consider yourself for a minute as if you were God and the car you drove (or rode in) to get to Church this morning was Moses. Your car (Moses) could do nothing but sit in your driveway until you (God) decided to use it for your will. When you are not using the car for your will, the car is basically dormant, not fulfilling any need that you have. Now when you had to get to Church this morning, unless you were planning to walk, you needed transportation. So you head out to your car. That car that had been sitting for hours in your driveway doing absolutely nothing becomes the means for getting you to the Church. When you get in the car and start the engine, it is your hands that direct the car in the right direction. It is your hands that make the car turn where needed. It is your feet that press the gas pedal to make the car go or the brake pedal that make the car stop. You are the one controlling the car because the car is yielding to you. The car is doing nothing under its own control; it is going where you make it go for you are the one giving all of the direction. The car is faithfully following your commands. This is the relationship that Moses had with God in his willingness to be used by God to bring the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. Moses was the car and God was the driver. Whenever someone is driving a car, it is said that the car is "in their hands." If God is the driver and you are the car, are you in good hands? Remember the old song that said "Don’t let the devil ride, for if you let him ride he will want to drive so don’t let him ride." There are many people in the hands of the devil doing what he wants them to do, going where he wants them to go without even realizing it. Whose hands are you in? When you are in God’s hands, God leads and God’s take good care to make sure you get to where you are going.
Before I leave the car example, let me give you one more illustration. Again, remember that the car just sits in your driveway or garage doing nothing until you decide to use it. Likewise, the car cannot do anything in and of itself to make itself better for all of that falls within your hands. Thinking about that for a moment, consider what is recorded in 1 Peter the 5th chapter: "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7 In these two verses I want you to again think about the car, especially as it pertains to the last line of verse six which says "for He cares for you."
Remember when I told you that the car can do nothing in and of itself, it needs someone’s hands in order to accomplish anything? The car sits in the driveway waiting for someone hands to lead it and to take care of it. Peter said that we should humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God and that in doing so He will exalt us because He cares for us. Well consider your car. Do you take care of your car? You put gas in the car because the gas is necessary for the car to move. Gas is not necessarily considered maintenance. Gas is a necessity for the car to be able to move. But, there are things that you do to "take care" of your car. When you put oil in your car, you are taking care of it. When you wash the car and give it a good wax job, you are taking care of it. When you clean out the inside and shine the tires, you are taking care of it. When you have the oil changed, tires rotated and balanced and every other maintenance item done, you are taking care of the car. You do these things so that the car looks good, runs better and lasts longer. You do not do all of these things for someone else’s car (unless you are getting paid or being a good friend), you do them for you own car. Have you ever cleaned out the inside of your car and waxed and shined the outside so that it looks like new? Remember when people told you how good your car looked and how you felt driving a clean, shining car? When you did all of that to your car you actually exalted the car and people noticed it. People took noticed of the car because it was clean and they took notice of you because the car was within your control, you were driving the car. In contrast, remember when you may have had an old beat up car that did not drive right no matter what you did? You did not spend time cleaning it up because it was causing you too many problems. Yes you may have run it through the car wash, but you did not get the best car wash, you probably got the cheap express one. Or maybe you drive a company car that you use for work. Do you wash and wax it with your hands or run it through one of those automatic car washes? When something belongs to you, you take care of it.
Let’s take this and apply it to what Peter said. If God is the driver and we are the car, God is the one who has the responsibility to clean us up (inside and out) as we humble ourselves to Him. When we humble ourselves to God and place ourselves in His mighty hands, He cleans us up. He cleans out all of the filth out of our insides and He cleans off the outside. He polishes us with the best wax and we become brand spanking new. When he takes us out, people now notice us. Not because we are so special, but because we are clean, sparkling and shining being driven by someone who believes in taking care of His possessions. Because we have been cleaned inside and out, the person who takes care of us is also noticed because we belong to Him. When people comment on your car, do they not notice that you are the one who has the car? Do you not feel special when people notice you because of the car you drive? If you were driving a clunker people may never noticed you. But because your car is clean and shining, they notice you and they notice the car. When we are in God’s hands and He has cleaned us out, people are able to see Him leading us. They notice us because we are not the same as we once were. As they get closer to us, they are able to see God in the driver’s seat. It is like when you see a nice car coming towards you. You notice the car before you can clearly see the driver. When we are in God’s hand and we are humbling ourselves to Him, He exalts us. When He exalts us, people notice us and Him because we are no longer as we once were. Are you in good hands? If the hands you’re in do not take care of you, then maybe you should consider getting into someone else’s hands.
Remember the question that Job asked God when he was going through? He asked God the following questions in Job 10:3, 8: "Is it right for Thee indeed to oppress, to reject the labor of Thy hands and to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked? Thy hands fashioned and made me altogether, and wouldst Thou destroy me? In Job’s questions lies the heart of the matter of what it means to be in God’s hands. No one makes something so special, with so much time and dedication, to turn around and destroy it. When Job was suffering, in his heart he was trying to figure out if this was being done by God, why would God treat him this way since God made him. You do not take your prized possessions and destroy them. You would not take your new car and give the keys to your 10 year old child to take for a spin. If we, with our limited knowledge understand this principle, then we can assume that god is fully aware of this. Because He made us, He has obligated Himself to fully take care of us because we are valuable to Him.
One final comment on the car illustration pertaining to value. Anyone will tell you that a car that has been taken care of is more valuable than one that has not been taken care of. If you buy a used car, you will want to know, if possible, who was the previous owner and was the car taken care of by that owner. Your faith in that car will be dependant upon you knowledge of how well that car has received its care. One of the reasons why you experience trials and tribulations in your life is because you are valuable. Satan wants you because you mean something. He trashes everything that belongs to him but Gods takes care of His possessions. Satan wants what God’s has because what God has is valuable, it is taken care of and it is precious. Would you give your valuable possession to someone who is going to trash it? No. You would let someone borrow something that is valuable to you only if you knew without a shadow of doubt that they will take care of it as well as you do. Well if we are that way, so is our heavenly Father. Satan cannot remove you from God’s hands no matter how many accusations he may bring against you. You are in good hands, IF you are in God’s hands.
Next week I will continue this message as we will take a look at what it actually means to have been made. This week I would ask that you keep in mind what David said in Psalms 139:14, "I will give thanks to thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Thy works, and my soul knows it very well."
May God bless and keep you.
