We Are On God's Hands

But God did not stop there. In verse sixteen He makes a statement that is simply amazing to me New Light. He says, “Behold, I have engraved you upon the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” (Isaiah 49:16) In April I told you that your name is tattooed in the palm of God’s hands. This morning I want you to see this differently. I want you to see yourself ON God’s hands! Every single one of us! Now, I may have missed it, and I’m sure there are people who have done this, but I have never seen a person with a tattoo on the palms of their hands. Have you? The palm of the hand is one of the most, if not the most, sensitive parts of the body. A person who puts a tattoo on his or her hand really wants to have it because of what it means to them. And they do this knowing it’s going to hurt like really bad. In ancient Palestine, when a person wanted to remember something very dear to him or sacred, he would tattoo it on his arm or forearm. God has tattooed us on His palms! We are ON His hands! There is nothing more dear to Him than us! Praise God! So God is saying, “Listen, I love you so much that I have placed you in a place where it will be impossible for Me not to see you. You are ON My hands. Every time I look at my hands, I see your “walls,” which refers to faces that are under His protection. God says “I want you to know that every time I look at My hands, I see you. And when I see you, you can rest assured that I am there with you.” Understand this New Light: there is nothing more important to God than us – His children. Nothing. We are so important to Him that He carries us with Him. Do you see this? Because He has tattooed us on the palms of His hand, God carries us with Him wherever He goes! What a comfort. What a peace.

I want to close this morning with what was recorded in Hebrews 12:1-3. It says, “Therefore seeing we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily ensnare us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. 2Looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3For consider Him that endured such hostility of sinners against Himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds.” What the writer says here is that we are surrounded by a history of saints who never gave up. We have a history of saints who believed in and trusted in God. Those were the ones listed in Hebrews chapter eleven. The writer reminds us of them and then tells us to lay aside everything that would ensnare us and run our race with patience. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith and when we examine what He went through for us, it should strengthen us to stay the course.

I pray this message has been a blessing and a source of encouragement for you today. I know that the trial I focused on in this message was the pandemic, but some of us are battling physical trials and what we have just read today applies to those as well. If this is you, please know in the depths of your heart that God knows your battle and that you are not going through it alone. And that’s why we need to remind ourselves that we believe in God. Nothing can move us away from believing His goodness, His love, and His healing power. During the times of trials and tests, that is our declaration. That is our confession. I thank God, New Light, that we are ON His hands! I hope that each of you will have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving celebration however you choose to celebrate it.