The song “Daddy’s Hands” that Dave and I just performed for you in honor of Father’s Day is, of course, written in reference to a human father’s personal characteristics as revealed in the way he uses his hands. I am sure when we think of our own fathers that most of us can relate to the lyrics that tell us that a Daddy’s hands can be soft, kind and gentle or they can be “hard as steel when I done wrong”.
I would like now to look at another set of “Daddy’s hands”; the hands of Abba, the hands of Our Heavenly Father, God Almighty. His hands also reveal some of His characteristics. The three I want to explore today are:
Despite what some people say, it was God who created this universe, including this small insignificant planet that we call home. He fashioned it all. He created it all. He set it all in motion. He keeps it all going. Not only that, but scripture tells us that God created the human race, starting with Adam, by fashioning him out of the dust of the Earth with God’s very own “hands”.
Abba’s hands are indeed hard as steel when we do wrong! Boy, this is one area that people really do not like to hear about and many preachers will avoid the subject like the plague whenever they can. The fact of the matter is, that God loves us so very much, that when we disobey Him by neglecting, ignoring, or plain and simply rejecting His commands and teachings, He will, like any good father, discipline His children.
Praise the Lord that He is long-suffering and will allow us to continue in our errant ways for (usually) quite some time. However, He does have a limit, and when we refuse to turn back to Him, He does eventually bring trials into our lives, not to punish us, but to bring us to the realization that He is God, we are not, and we need to rely on, depend on, and obey Him.
So God does and will allow bad things to happen to those we consider “good” people. He does this because, in reality, when compared to a perfectly righteous God, there is no such thing as a “good” person. Paul tells us that when compared to the Perfect Jesus Christ, “all of our righteousness is as filthy rags.” Therefore, we should expect trials and tribulations in this life on Earth.
Please do not misunderstand. Just because you may be suffering through a trial or a tribulation, it is not automatically because you have done something to offend God. Remember Job; he suffered great trials and hardships even though he was “righteous in God’s eyes”. It may be simply a result of living in this fallen, imperfect world. The point is that when trouble strikes, we need to turn to God and ask Him what it is that we need to learn from the experience. It is then that we find that, Abba’s hands are kind, gentle, and loving. It is this attribute of God that allows us to have the kind of faith and hope that we need desperately while we live in this world of pain, suffering, hardship and death.
The Lord is not some sour old man sitting on His throne in Heaven just waiting for us to mess up so that He can beat us with His rod and laugh while He is doing it. Unfortunately, that is the image that many people have of God due to some teachers and preachers who focus solely on God’s righteousness and ignore God’s forgiveness and love.
Yes, Abba’s hands can be hard as steel. When we acknowledge our sin, accept His Son as Savior and Lord, and obey His teachings, commands and will for our lives, then God’s hands are kind, gentle and loving. It is beyond our ability to fully understand with our pitiful human minds which, as great as we think they are, are far, far, far below the mind of God.
Back in the 1980s the summer Olympic games were held in Barcelona, Spain. One of the events was a long race in which a young man from England was running. He had trained rigidly and very hard for several years for this race. He lined up at the starting line and the gun went off to begin the race and the young man from England started off well. He ran and ran until at the halfway mark disaster struck. Suddenly the young man grabbed his leg and fell to the ground in obvious pain. He tried to get up, but couldn’t put any weight on his leg and immediately fell back to the ground. He knew it was hopeless.
The crowd was watching his struggle when suddenly, walking very slowly, they noticed an older man make his way to the stricken boy, still lying on the track. Most of the other runners had already crossed the finish line when the crowd that filled the stands saw the old man reach out his hand and help the young Englishman to his feet. Leaning on the older man’s shoulder, they both headed for the finish line together. A cheer began to build up in the crowd and was an almost deafening roar when the hurting young man from England crossed the finish line hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder with his older helper. The helper was the young man’s father. When his son needed him most, the father was there and gave the boy the helping hand that he needed to finish the race.
So it is with the children of God, adopted into His family as a brother or sister to Jesus Christ and as a result of our acceptance of His gift of Salvation and Redemption. Yes, we will stumble. Yes, we will fall. Yes, we will at times think that it is impossible to get up from the ground one more time. Yes, we will sometimes feel that we want to give up and just lie on the track. But it is at those times that our God Almighty will reach out His hand. If we take it, He will lift us up and walk hand in hand with us to the finish line. With our hand in His hand we will cross that finish line and enter into glory with Him for all eternity.
That is the promise we see fulfilled when we take Abba’s (Daddy’s) hand in ours. If you have never taken His hand in yours before, won’t you do it today? And, by the way, whenever you do take His hand in yours, please don’t overlook the scars from the Cross of Calvary’s hill. Amen.