Whose Hands?

 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. I Peter 2:23

In response to the above Scripture, I have written in my prayer journal, "Father, may I at all times, leave my 'case' in Your hands." ....All of us have our "cases," often many of them. Things, people, needs, situations, that we are heavily invested in. We expend great amounts of energy, emotionally and spiritually, in seeing our cases come to the fruition that we desire. Because of this, we rarely allow them to leave our hands, and so, we never really place them in His.

Can we even begin to imagine the scenario the Scripture from 1st Peter describes. Jesus Christ, in whom the Bible says "all things hold together," is seemingly at the mercy of those who hated and reviled Him. With a word He could have put them all to flight, even destroyed them. He knew His purpose, and though He was seemingly controlled by the actions of others, He trusted His purpose, His "case," to be held in the mighty hands of His Father.

Paul echoed the same when he wrote, "I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep (all) that I have committed unto Him against that day." Neither Christ, or Paul, or an endless line of faith heroes took it upon themselves to engineer their own results, but entrusted themselves and all that concerned themselves, to Him. Can we? Do we? And if we don't, why not?

We have never been in control, but we have held to the illusion that we are. This past year, especially in the west, has shown us we are not. As individuals, families, churches and ministries, we are seemingly at the mercy of government agendas, social pressures, and yes, public opinion. Our flesh is greatly frustrated by this, and if it holds sway, the result will be the loss of our peace, joy, and hope. Our hands are inadequate to hold all of it. His are not. So why do we hold back? Why do you hold back?

The evangelist James Robison once spoke of how he had struggled to release all the concerns of his ministry to the care of His Father in heaven. He said that in the struggle he heard the whisper of God's voice saying to Him, "If you won't give this into My hands, into whose hands will you give it?" He would ask the same of us. Whose hands could be more trustworthy than His? Jesus asked His disciples in John 6 if they, like so many others, would also leave Him. Peter replied, "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life." Have we come to such a place as to realize there is no where else to go for life, for help, for hope, for that which we were created for?

We can be held in either the grip of our circumstances, cares, needs, and desires, or, we can be held in the grip of His love. Where do you think your life belongs? Why not come to the foot of the cross and release your grip upon the issues of your life, and with palms upward, commit them all into His hands? If you won't, into whose hands will you commit them?

Blessings,

Pastor O

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