I wanna hold your hand!

I was reminded this morning of just how small and fragile we are compared to God. The God of the universe, creator of heaven, earth, and everything under the earth “sits on his throne above the circle of the earth, and compared to Him, people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the skies like a piece of cloth and spreads them out like a tent to sit under. Isaiah 40:22 NCV“

 As I read through Isaiah chapter 40 and 41 this morning, I couldn’t help but picture God, sitting on this throne with the universe in his hands. My mind went instantly to a memory of my Grandfather sitting in his lawn chair using his finger tips to hold up a softball like a snow globe sits on its pedestal. (Please know I am not suggesting God sits around in a lawn chair and holds the world up like a snow globe.) My grandfather and I were having a great time together, laughing and playing a game of catch in his backyard. Those are times I will treasure for a lifetime. But the point I am trying to make is like my grandfather held the ball in the palm of his hand, God holds us in his.

God HOLDS us – all of us. Think about that for a minute. What does that say to you? He holds EVERYTHING…the sinner and the saint, the good and the not-so-good, the sick, the poor, even the people who say “God doesn’t exist.”  The one and only holy God, the creator or all the universe, the first and the last, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end,  SEES EVERYTHING – the good things and the not-so-good things. Yet, after all we have done and everything he has seen…He loves us.

We are his creation, and since the beginning of time he longs to have a relationship with us…ALL OF US. It is evident in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. He gave them a beautiful paradise to live in and gave them the freedom to choose even if that choice meant death. (please reference: Genesis chapters 2 and 3)

I have heard people say things like:

“God must hate me.”

“God is mad at me.”
“If there is a God, how can he allow things to happen like this?”
“There is no God.”
“Naming something gives it too much power.”

 LIES!

Every statement mentioned above is a LIE of SATAN. When I think about God holding the universe, I see joy, compassion, kindness, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love. Every time I see a mother holding her newborn child, or a dad hugging his son when he comes home from work, or even my grandfather looking at a softball and smiling because he has enjoyed a game of catch with his granddaughter I am reminded of God holding us and looking at us with caring and compassion.

Plain and simple…God loves us. He has chosen us. He is with us. He gives us strength, support, courage, peace. He holds us by the hand like a loving father and guides us in the direction we should go.

Do you hear His voice? Do you feel His power and peace in your life? If not, there is only one way to be in this type of intimate relationship with Him.

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.”  (John 3:16 – 18 MSG)