Under God's Mighty Hand

This is an article that I recently read in Clarion ( a Canadian Reformed Magazine) I found that it gave me a lot of encouragement during this time, I hope that it will to others who read it too. It will take you a few minutes to read, but it will be worth your time!

Under God's Mighty Hand

written by: Rev. Moesker from Vernon, BC

" Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. "
1 Peter 5:6

"Our passage includes the important word "therefore." That means this verse is a conclusion to what the Apostle has just written about the suffering of his readers. These Christians in Asia Minor were suffering for doing right, for confessing the gospel, and living according to it. And that was getting them down. That happens more often with believers, doesn't it? We want to do the right thing and we still end up facing adversity. Then it's easy to throw up our hands in frustration: "Forget it! What's the use"

But Peter steers us away from that kind of reaction by pointing to the mighty hand of God. References to God's hand in the Bible describe God's almighty power to do what He wills. Think of Israel's exodus from Egypt, how God led Israel out of Egypt "with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm"

Peter wants to remind his suffering readers that their suffering isn't outside of God's government and control. Whatever we may endure, whatever we might have to deal with, we shouldn't forget that all adversity -accident, disease, disappointment, persecution - all of it comes to us from God's mighty hand. To be sure, there are often mistakes on the part of humans that cause disappointment and suffering. everyone is still responsible for what he or she does. But God's hand is still in it. He deems it necessary for us to go through those difficulties.

And for his people, God's hand is always a caring hand, even when it chastises us. It's the hand of a faithful and loving Father in Jesus Christ. That's why it says in the verse right after out text, "...because He cares for you." Is there anyone who cares for us as much as God the Father, He who gave his one and only Son for us?

So we need to learn to feel God's fatherly hand in everything we undergo. For only if we feel God's hand will we be able to deal with life's ups and downs in the right way, without becoming bitter or anxious.

I'm afraid that sometimes we don't acknowledge God's hand in our adversities. But think of Job's response to his wife after she told him to give up on God. He said "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (2:10) Job felt God's hand, also in his terrible suffering. He received it from God's hand, just as he had received prosperity from that same hand. Knowing that, he was able to accept what happened to him without losing his faith and his desire to do right.

That's how we too need to deal with difficulties in out daily lives. We need to feel God's hand with us not only when things go well, but also when there are trials. If there are health problems, if there's an accident, if there are financial difficulties, if there are concerns with work, if there are troubles in the family, if someone makes fun of us because of our faith - we need to see the hand of God behind these things too. Then we'll be able to deal with our difficulties and sorrows in the right way, even growing spiritually through them.

That's what Peter means when he speaks of 'humbling' ourselves under God's hand. Humbling oneself under God's hand means accepting what that hand does to us. We must struggle against sin of course, but also accept what God allows in out life, even the things He brings upon us as a consequence of our sins and shortcomings. Like Job, we ought to take the trouble as well as the good.

For you'll be blessed if you do! As Peter adds, "That He may lift you up in due time." "Lift up" here doesn't necessarily mean being lifted right out of your difficulty. It means being lifted up out of your despair in adversity. It's a spiritual lifting up!

If you accept what God's hand sends you, you'll discover that God gives you peace, even if He doesn't change your circumstances. He'll renew your joy and put a song in your mouth. He'll give you a strengthened trust and love for Him. He who loved you so much in Jesus Christ. If we're willing to take hold of his hand as it presses down, He promises that He'll also lift us up.

Peter says this will take place "in due time." For it takes time and prayer to work through adversity and to receive it as from God. But when we do that, we discover more and more the warmth of the Father's hand. Just as David wrote in Psalm 63:8, even while he was fleeing Saul, "My soul clings to you;your right hand upholds me." "