I remember being nervous as a teenager when everyone was asking me what I was going to do with my life; where I was going to go to college, and many other deep things. I remember the fear in my heart that I might make a wrong choice with these things, or even worse that I would not find the right person to marry! I had a great deal on my heart in those days that I thought were the deepest burdens anyone could bear. Of course, as I have gotten older, I realize that these challenges were simply the training grounds for much deeper burdens and challenges. In those “teenage years,” there was an old hymn we would sing in church that said, “I don’t know about tomorrow, but I know Who holds my hand.”
I found great comfort in that thought then, and the comfort has only deepened over the years as I clamp down a bit harder on my grip of His hand. That song must have come out of a wonderful verse in the book of Isaiah. “For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, ‘Fear not; I will help thee’” (Isaiah 41:13). What a wonderfully intimate time is shared when we become afraid and reach for the hand of our God! What a comfort to know that “the LORD” our God extends His hand! But it gets far better than Him simply holding our hand!
Later in this same book we read: “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me” (Isaiah 49:16). If you are a child of God, your name is engraved in the palms of His hands. But it gets even better! John wrote the words of Jesus: “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 Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29).
Not only does God reach out to hold my right hand, whispering, “Fear not; I will help thee,” as He reaches out for my hand, I can see my name engraved in His hand! Not only can I see my name engraved in the palms of His hands, those hands are the place that I confidently rest each and every day. What assurance I have, knowing that my salvation is firmly in the hand of my Savior, and of my Heavenly Father! What is there that I should fear? God knows that we are fearful people. Do you think that this is why God gives us so many verses throughout the Old and New Testaments to assure us that His hand is working on our behalf? Do you think that God knows that we naturally fear when we lean on our own understanding? Of course He knows we fear. God is holding your hand today. Don’t fear!