Thought for November 11

 History:

• 1620: Mayflower Compact signed [some say 11/21]
• 1647: Massachusetts passes first compulsory school attendance law in colonies
• 1839: VMI is founded in Lexington VA
• 1909: Construction of Pearl Harbor naval base begins
• 1918: End of WWI--11th hour, 11th day, 11th month
• 1921: Tomb of Unknown Soldier dedicated
• 1926: US Route 66 established--Chicago to Santa Monica--2,448 miles
• 1939: Kate Smith first sings "God Bless America"
• 1940: Willys "Jeep" unveiled
• 1959: First episode of "Rocky & His Friends" premiers
• 1961: "Catch-22" published
• 1966: Methodist Church and United Brethren Church unite--United Methodist
• 1992: Church of England approves ordination of female priests
• Born: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, George Patton, Pat O'Brien, Kurt Vonnegut, Jonathan Winters, Fuzzy Zoeller, Demi Moore, Leonardo DiCaprio, 
• Died: Nat Turner, Typhoid Mary, Jerome Kern, Alexander Calder, HR Haldeman, Yasser Arafat, Peter Drucker, Robert Vaughn, 

Thought:

Over in the Book of Ezra this morning. Reading chapter 8 where I have underlined three times "the hand of our God." [8:18, 22, 31] Have you ever thought about the hand of God. Hands can tell us a lot about a person. Are their hands soft to the touch? Or are their hands rough with callouses? Are their hands large or small, strong or weak, clean or dirty? Most of us have hands we can recognize by touch--perhaps it was your mom or dad whose hands you can recall. Or perhaps your memory is of your child's hand or your grandchild's little hand. Maybe it is the hand of your spouse that is so familiar you recognize it in the dark. My sister says that when I am at the dinner table I hold my hands exactly the way my father did and she see's Dad every time we eat by looking at my hands. 

Now think about God's hands. So large and powerful that He can hold the whole world in His hands; yet, so small that we can sing, "Precious Lord take my hand, lead me on and let me stand." His hands so strong He can hold us steady in the storms of life; yet so gentle He could lift the children into His lap. His hands so beautiful as He passed the bread and the wine, yet wounded and torn by the spikes of the cross. His hands so pure and holy that never knew sin, yet reaching out to touch the leper, the blind, the bleeding, the dead. I see those hands playing as a young boy, working as a mason, making a whip to cleanse the Temple, inviting Thomas to touch them after the resurrection. I see them cooking fish beside the sea, placing stars in their orbits, shifting continents into place, and coming out of the water at His baptism. 

Today, know that His hands are their for you and me---holding us to comfort us in our toughest days; guiding us like the sheep we are; covering us to protect us; lifting us when we fall down. His hands are open hands filled with blessings, never fists to hurt us. Now read those three verses I cited:

• His hands are good hands that bring us blessings [8:18].
• His hands hands are favorable toward us to help us and lead us [8:22]
• His hands cover us and deliver us [8:31]

Now maybe we understand why Jesus said, "into Thy hands I commit My spirit." [Luke 23:46] The ad says you are in good hands with Allstate; but for those in Christ, we are in the hands of the One who loved us and gave Himself for us---now that is good news!

Blessings

Larry