All of us know what it is for someone to ask us to give them a hand and no doubt we have requested of others the same thing.
All of us know what it is for someone to ask us to give them a hand and no doubt we have requested of others the same thing.
During my years as a young man in Bible college in Oklahoma City, I came home each summer to Batesville to work. Two of those summers I worked for Brown & Root Construction Company building a power plant in Newark, AR. The first summer, I was a pipe fitter’s helper and the next summer I was a pipe insulation helper. An accurate job description for me would have been “gopher” - go for this and go for that.
Although I was not exceptionally knowledgeable of my trade, I believed I was a topnotch “gopher”. After I had been on the job just a few days, my supervisor asked me to go to the tool shed and get a pipe stretcher. I trotted right off to accomplish my mission. When I submitted my order to the manager at the tool shed, a broad grin appeared on his friendly face. He said, “Son, someone is trying to pull one over on you. There is no such thing as a pipe stretcher.” Obviously detecting my embarrassment he added, “Don’t feel too bad about it; you’re not the first one they’ve sent for a pipe stretcher and you won’t be the last.”
Ultimately my job was to assist my pipe fitter any way I could. The Bible teaches us that we as Christians have an unseen Helper with an “unseen hand” who comes to our aid in a time of need. He also comes to unbelievers in an attempt to lead them to Christ’s everlasting salvation and abundant life here and now. The Scriptures have a lot to say about this unseen hand.
In the book of Ezekiel, the Lord told the prophet that he was to go preach to Israel, but they were stiff-hearted and rebellious (Ezekiel 2:4-5). He did not promise Ezekiel that the people would listen to the message. We read in Ezekiel 2:9-10, “And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; and He spread it before me; and it was written within and without.” First, God prepared his prophet by sending him a hand that was visible and that contained a book with an important message.
As we look further in Ezekiel, we find that seven times God’s unseen hand was with his prophet providing the strength and grace he would need for the task ahead.
There are several things about God’s unseen hand that I would like for us to consider. First, we see God’s pleading hand. The Lord with the nail-scarred hands of Calvary pleads for every soul to come to Christ for salvation, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls (Matthew 11:28-29).”
A second thing we find about God’s unseen hand is that it is a protecting hand. The Lord protected Noah from the flood, He delivered Daniel from the lions and He calmed the storm and protected His disciples on the Sea of Galilee. Many of us have experienced God’s miraculous protection in our lives as well.
Thirdly, when we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord, we have the assurance that we are in His preserving hand for eternity. In John 10:28-29 we read, “And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them to Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.” What an awesome promise this is!
Randy Zinn is pastor of Russell Missionary Baptist Church, Russell, Ark. He and his wife are former residents of Okmulgee.