Whose Hands Are You In? Part 2
Scripture: Psalms 139: 13-18; John 3:16
Introduction
Last week I shared with you the introduction to this short series of messages focusing on knowing whose hands you are in. Last week I shared with you an analogy using a car and how when we drive our cars, the cars are in our hands, meaning they are under our control and care. Through that analogy I was attempting to demonstrate how God takes care of us. This morning we will dig a little deeper into our understanding of why it is a good idea to be in God’s hands.
As many of you know, I grew up in a small town in middle Tennessee. I shared a bedroom with my two older brothers and could be found in this room whenever I was not outside. Our home at that time did not have "family rooms" like houses have today so our bedroom was for us our family room. There were many nights when my brothers would be asleep and I would just lay in bed thinking. I would be thinking about things that no one could answer. For example, I often thought about how I could be made with the looks and mindset that I had in the family I grew up in. I wondered what I would have been like if I had different parents and lived somewhere else. Then I would think about the fact that who I was happened not by chance but because of my two parents coming together and conceiving me. If either of my parents had married someone else I would not be here today because it took both of their DNA to produce me. These are the thoughts that were running through my head before I was a teenager.
The other thing that I thought about often was about becoming an adult. I was not in any hurry to become an adult because they were supposed to know a lot of stuff and be able to handle any problem. My life was pretty good with my parents making all of the decisions. If a problem arose in the house, I did not have to worry about it unless I was the problem. My parents took care of the bills, the food and all of my needs. My life was pretty good from that viewpoint. I would have sleepless nights as a child worrying about if I could handle things and take care of a family when I grew up. Those were scary nights for me. I was not one of those kids who walked around mad saying "I can’t wait until I am grown and on my own." I walked around mad with the full intentions of being mad "at home." At a very early age I understood this one simple fact: my parents made me, they loved me and it was their responsibility to take care of me. I was in very good hands with the parents that God had given me. I understood their responsibility towards me, but better still, they understood it. Some parents today do not understand the responsibility they have towards their kids. They treat their kids as if they are trying to be their best friends. Friendship is nice; but do not forget there will be many times when you will not be able to be a friend.
When I became a teenager and really begin to grow in my relationship with God, a lot of things changed for me. The things that used to scare me did not scare me as much and soon they did not scare me at all. Early in my teenage years I came to understand that although I was a product of my parents, I had a God who had taken a very special interest in my creation and development. It was during these early years when I began to understand that when I prayed God was listening and answering. Although there were things that I worried about, deep within me I knew that God was listening when I talked with Him and I did not have to have all of the answers as long as I was in His hands. There was a popular song I heard that really brought this home to me and it said "Put your hands in the hands of the Man who stilled the waters; put your hands in the hands of the Man who crossed the sea. When you look at yourself, you can look at others differently; put your hand in the hand of the Man from Galilee." This morning I ask you again, "Do you know if you are in good hands?"
I. Special Care Went into Your Making
In recognizing that we are in good hands, we must first go back to the beginning and understand "why" we are in good hands. To understand why being in God’s hands is the ultimate, we must understand the meaning of "value". Value is defined as "that quality of a thing which makes it more or less desirable, useful." When we consider how God made each of us, the care that He took in our development has made us extremely valuable. Even while you were being formed in your mother’s womb, God knew you and placed value upon you. Let me give you an everyday example of value. Let’s say a man is getting ready to propose to a woman and is in the process of picking out an engagement ring. This man who has won the heart of this woman, who has all of the qualities that the woman looked for, goes to Wal-Mart and purchases an engagement ring with ¼ carat diamond for $175. He purchases this ring after his fiancée had already took him shopping for rings at some of the nicer diamond stores. When he gives her the ring, what do you think her was? Would she place any real value at all upon this ring from Wal-Mart? I know women who wear their rings proudly, wanting people to see the ring and how big the stone is. Do you think she would do that? No she probably wouldn’t if she lives in Johnson County, KS. However, if this man had the money and went to Zales and brought a 4 carat ring for $10,000, everyone she met would see this ring. She would take out insurance to cover the ring just in case it is lost or damaged. She would treasure the ring. Why, because the ring was valuable to her. The diamond was valuable because of its size, clarity and how it was cut. That value was transferred to her when she received the ring from her fiancée. Well, in God’s eyes you are like that $10,000 diamond, except He is the one that formed you and made you valuable.
Let’s look at what David said about the care God took in our development. Turn to Psalms 139, verses 13-14, 17-18.
"For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Thy works and my soul knows it very well." Verses 13-14
In these two verses David says a lot. Think about your body and how you were made. Scientists are still trying to figure out how some of the systems of the body works.
Let me give you an example. I spent all last week n a training session on diabetes. One of the segments we went through dealt with how the body made sure that under normal circumstances it kept the sugar levels within normal range. What happens is this: when you eat your body tells one organ to put out insulin to that the insulin can take the sugar into your body tissues to use for energy. When you are not eating, this same organ sends a signal to another part of your body to actually produce sugar because you had not eaten enough food and the body needs some energy. Every tissue of your body requires insulin to help it get the sugar which it uses for energy. So if your body does not have enough or appropriately use the insulin you have, you can end up with diabetes. But here is what I want you to understand. Although this system is in place, there is one vital organ that also needs sugar to function but does not require insulin to help it get it and that’s your brain. When your body was formed, God made it so that your brain would be able to function independent of some of the other systems. Why? Because you can live without several organs in your body, but you cannot live without your brain. Have you ever wondered why your brain is protected by a thick skull? It was not by accident, it was by design. One final point on how God took care in designing our bodies. There are cases where a person had a blocked blood vessel that was important to the heart. When this vessel shut down due to the blockage, a new one grew in its place so that the heart, another vital organ, would continue to have what it needed. Your body is so unique that your heart will beat whether you want it to or not (under normal circumstances) and you will breathe whether you want to or not. You may hold your breath for a while, but eventually your body will require oxygen and will override your will to not breathe. This is the care that went into the making of your body – you are very unique.
Now David did not seem to care about how his body worked, but he cared about Who made his body. David credited God for the development of his body even while he was in his mother’s womb. After giving God that credit, he moves on to the care that God took in that development. In verse 14 David says that he was fearfully and wonderfully made. Do you know what that means? The word "fearfully" means that God took great care to make sure what He was making was right. He was very careful and deliberate in the making of our bodies. He is just as careful in our spiritual development. The next word that David uses is "wonderfully." This word carries the meaning of something being made to a standard of excellence, something that would cause others to marvel. When God made you, He made you with care and with pure excellence. The thoughts that you may have about yourself personally were not placed there by your Heavenly Father; in His eyes you were created with perfection. I know some of you may be wondering about those who are born with birth defects. I do not profess to have the answer, but I would offer this: what matters to God most is our spirit man, for that is the eternal part of us. Our physical bodies will waste away, but our spirits will continue to live and will one day receive a perfect body not made in the way these bodies were made, but one that is made by God’s on hands. God made you with care and with excellence. That does not mean that you will pass man’s tests for bodily perfection, but it is God’s test that truly matters. David continues by saying that his soul recognizes the care that God took in his development. David was speaking of his spirit man, that part of him that was truly in tune with God. He may have struggled with his flesh as all of us do, but his spirit recognized the value that he had in God’s eyes. In verses 17 thru 18 David speaks of God’s thoughts towards us.
"How precious also are Thy thoughts to me, O God. How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with Thee." Verses 17-18
David recognized that God often thought of him and the thought of God constantly thinking about him was very precious in his eyes. Do you know that right now God is thinking about you? Whenever you call on His name or begin to think about Him He is also thinking about you. God thinks about you all the time, in the morning, throughout the day and even while you are asleep, He is thinking about you. David said that if he were to count up all of the thoughts that God had of him that would outnumber the sand. That is a lot of thoughts on God’s part! Why would God spend so much time thinking about us? Because He made us and we are important to Him. He cares for us and wants to ensure our safety. We are in His hands and while we are in His hands He is thinking about us.
God took great care in making you and me and because of that care, He cradles us in His hands. I remember the first time I held both of my daughters. The experience was different, but the emotions the same. I wanted to protect them, to make sure nothing happened to them. When any of us hold a small baby in our arms we are very careful to make sure that nothing happens to that child. That is the level of care that God always takes with us – He is constantly looking and evaluating to ensure that we are okay. That does not mean that bad and sometimes terrible things will not happen to us, but it does mean that if and when it does, God is still there, still walking through with us.
Earlier in my example of the wedding ring, I mentioned the fact that if the right ring was purchased from a nice diamond store, say it had 4 carats and cost $10,000, the bride to be would cherish that ring. She would take out insurance on it in case it was stolen, damaged or lost. We do the same thing with our cars. We have the mandatory liability insurance that the state requires, but if the car is new and you are still paying for it, then you will also take out what is know as full coverage insurance. This way you are protecting your investment in case something should happen to it. Once the car gets older and the resell value is reduced, at that point you decide if it is worth it to carry full coverage or just to drop it back down to liability insurance only. My point is this, the things that we value we make sure we are covering with some type of protection plan. Well don’t you know that God does the same thing?
He protects us while we are on earth and He has provided a protection plan for our eternity. When He created man, man was perfect and had the perfect relationship with Him. But man fell from grace. At the moment that man fell, God took out an insurance policy to ensure that although this work of art had become damaged, it could be fixed. It could not be replaced but it could be repaired and made better than it was before. God’s insurance policy on us came in the form of His Son Jesus Christ. John 3:16 records: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." Consider the phrase "so loved the world" for a moment. The word "so" in that sentence is detailing the depth and intensity of God’s love for us. The Amplified Bible states it this way: "For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world…" Because God loved us so much, He gave us a tax free, interest free and payment free insurance policy. All we have to do is accept the policy (Christ) and the payment is paid in full. God did this because He values us and He desires to protect His investment for all eternity.
Think about the things you possess that you treasure. Do you have them insured? Do you have a safe that you store them in "just in case?" Everything you can think of to protect what is valuable to you are things God has already put in place to protect you. You are worth something. If you are in God’s hands, your value has automatically increased. Are you in good hands Stan? Are you in God’s hands? May God bless and keep you.
