His Hand Over Us

      Last week, during a home school conference, the girls’ group had a day trip to a National Service training ground. They went through obstacle courses in which they climbed walls, walked on shaky planks, and swing across a muddy pit. I was browsing through the pictures taken that day, enjoying the various expressions on people’s faces. Then I came across this picture.

Photo by Eliza Tan; used with permission

      This obstacle involved crawling on one’s belly under a network of barbed wire. Now, look at this image closely. Notice that one of the guides there had his hand hovering over the little girl’s head, protecting her from the wires that hung suspended just a few centimetres above her.

      As I pondered on this image before my eyes, I realized how much it portrayed the Christian life. When we have Christ as our Guide and Lord, God has His mighty hand over us, protecting us from great harm and evil. However, that does not mean that we will not face hardships and challenges. We still need to crawl on the dirt. We still need to go through the difficulties that life throws at us. We still need to be aware of evil and avoid it. But what’s so wonderful is that we know we are not alone. We know that our Heavenly Father is watching over us, knowing our paths, and protecting us.

      Another illustration of this is a series of pictures I once saw a few years ago. The first picture portrayed a boy praying for God to protect him. The next image showed him walking along—and then getting hit by a small stone! He then got angry and asked God why, despite his earlier prayer, he was struck by the stone. Wouldn’t God answer his prayer? Finally, the last picture portrayed Jesus standing behind this boy, blocking the larger, enormous rocks and boulders that came crashing in his direction. Yes, God is big enough to prevent all trouble from occurring, but He knows we need to grow through the trials we face. The message this series of pictures was trying to get across was that our Lord, in His love and mercy, is protecting us from the worse dangers, physical or spiritual, in this world.

      Many verses in the Bible talk about God's hand. Psalm 20:6 says, "Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand." Psalm 144:7 states, "Stretch out your hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me from the many waters . . ."

      But this is not so for the one who turns from God. If a person rejects the lordship of Christ and refuses to let God be personally involved in his life, God will remove His hand, allowing this person to be more vulnerable to the greater evils around him. It would be like the child who leaves the authority and protection of his parents. Such a child would be more likely to get involved in things like drinking, gambling, drug-taking, and many others. And such a lifestyle can be costly. In Jeremiah 15:6, the Lord says: "You have rejected me, declares the Lord; you keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you— I am weary of relenting." Lamentations 2:3 restates this aspect of God's hand: "He has cut down in fierce anger all the might of Israel; he has withdrawn from them his right hand in the face of the enemy . . ."

      As for me, I feel comforted knowing that God has His hand over my head, His eyes on my path, and His Spirit in my heart. I hope you will let Him be involved in your life in such a personal and amazing way.

Blessings,
Nathanael Chong