Safely in His Hands
We’ve all heard that familiar children’s song that recites as follows: “He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the whole world in His hands. He’s got the whole wide world in His hands – He’s got the whole world in His hands!”. You were singing weren’t you?
Do the words of that song mean anything to you? They remind me of two passages of scripture that I turn to regularly. Isaiah 45:7 says – “I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord do all these things;” & Matthew 10:29-31 reads – “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
I understood the significance of the verse from Isaiah for the first time on May 9, 2012, during our first Bible study at a new church, when it was used as a reference verse for a study on the life of Job. I remember thinking, “Wow! The Lord really does create EVERYTHING.”
My mind couldn’t comprehend the fact that God would create evil. Honestly, I’ve heard my whole life that He is a loving God; but is that right? Of course it is! But this verse in Isaiah is God speaking and He says “I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord do all these things”.
Now, as a believer, I know that I can’t pick and choose what I want to believe from the Bible. That being said, I also know the Bible has been translated to the English language from Hebrew and Greek and sometimes things get lost in translation. So, in order to get a better understanding of the context here, I did a word study on the word evil.
In the Hebrew language and in this context it means bad or disagreeable, as in God’s actions of judgment are disagreeable to the wicked, but are not ethically evil. Essentially, what this verse is saying is that God is the ultimate authority and permission has to be granted from Him for all things including those things that, we as humans, deem bad or disagree with, even things that include His righteous judgments.
I had no idea how faithful God’s plan was in revealing the meaning of this verse to me that night, but I love the hindsight of His fingerprints interweaving circumstances for His plan and purpose.
The very next day, around 2:30 in the afternoon I got a call that my brother-in-law was in a car accident. He didn’t make it. The revelation from the other end of the phone was devastating as my mind tried to absorb the news. “Shawn is dead” were blunt words that rang through the air. I was so confused at first, “Shawn? As in my brother-in-law?” I asked. “Yes, Shawn is dead.” The response shook me, but for whatever reason I couldn’t quite grasp it yet. “Shawn Hall? Bambi’s husband?” I continued my questioning. “YES!” While the exchange was brief, it changed everything.
Once I had gathered the broken pieces of my heart together and had my emotions stable, it hit me that Shawn’s passing left my sister to raise their three children alone. I knew they would need me to be strong and provide any comfort that I might be able to. However, in that moment it seemed insurmountable to me to be any source of comfort with my heart broken too.
The drive to their house was quiet and somber. As I rode in the passenger seat, my husband softly held my hand. The touch brought my thoughts back to providing comfort and I began to pray and ask God to help me do just that for these four precious people in my life. As if to smack me in the face with it, God reminded me of that verse from Isaiah from the night before and the revelation of the meaning of it.
Along with that, in Matthew 10:29-31 the scripture says “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than may sparrows.” Do you know what a farthing is? It’s basically the equivalent of one penny, some translations even say it’s a half of a penny! Either way, that’s not much, is it? If two sparrows are sold for one farthing, then they hold virtually no value. Yet, God will not allow even one of them to fall on the ground (essentially meaning die) without His permission. Verse 30 confounded me for years as a youth. I mean, let’s be honest – who of us has the patience (or even really cares to know) the number of hairs on our own heads much less that of something else.
Yet our Father knows how many hairs are on my head, your head, and everyone’s head. Why? Because we are that valuable to Him! Don’t take my word for it, verse 31 says so; “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows”! You see my friend, if God won’t allow one sparrow to die without His permission and we are more valuable than many sparrows; imagine how His hand holds us in EVERY situation.
With newfound amazement in my voice and tears on my cheeks, I asked my husband “Do you know how good God is?” He was a bit confused at the statement as he slowly said, “What?” My words quickly spewed out as I shared with him how I understood the unfolding of God’s plan. “Do you remember the scriptures last night at Bible study from Isaiah about how God creates everything including evil? And do you remember the passage from Matthew about our value to Him? I didn’t realize it then, but now I understand more fully why God brought it to us and caused it to have an impact on us last night. He knew we’d need to remember it today so He made it fresh in our memories. He aligned His plan long before last night to lead up to providing us with the understanding that because He creates everything, nothing can touch our lives without passing through His hands first. And since we are more valuable than many sparrows, He certainly wouldn’t have allowed Shawn to die without His permission – without it being part of His plan. He knew we’d need strength from the understanding of that scripture for today. He has this all under control; even this tragedy! It’s all in His hands. He has taken Shawn for His plan and purpose and while we are heartbroken we have to trust Him.” My heart bubbled full of hope from the hug of comfort God wrapped me in with His word.
In the same way that Isaiah 45:7 tells us that He creates everything & Matthew 10:29-31 tells us the value He places on us, that old familiar children’s song reminds us that He holds everything too, especially those things of great value to Him. Talk about an answered prayer! It no longer seemed insurmountable to be able to provide comfort to my family.
In a moment when I thought my heart was too heavy and burdened to be comforting to anyone else, I went to the Comforter and He gave me strength and reassurance straight from His Word. Once I was filled up, I was able to pour Him out. That kind of comfort is priceless – but available for any of us.
Father, thank you for being our great comforter and for answered prayers when we cry out to you in moments of despair. May we continue to be willing vessels for You to pour through. Amen!
