In His Hands

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.” – Psalm 138:7

“And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” – Matthew 14:31

“Away then, all fears, the Kingdom is safe in the King’s hands.” – C.H. Spurgeon

Scripture Reading: Mark 6:7-13, 31-52

When it comes to problems or concerns or dilemmas of any kind, I’ve never been good at a hands-off approach.  I tend to be the white-knuckled type who tries (usually in vain) to bring the situation under control (namely, my own control).  And in the end, I only find out how little control I really have.

In Mark 6, Jesus’ disciples were white-knuckled.  After returning from their first missions trip (Verses 7-13), they had served as waiters to 5000 people, fed by a little boy’s lunch and the power of Jesus (Verses 31-44).  Jesus then put them in a boat and sent them to cross the Sea of Galilee, while He stayed behind to finish His goodbyes with the well-fed 5000, before going off by Himself to pray (Verses 45-46).

By evening, the disciples are in the middle of the sea, Jesus is watching from the shore, and the winds have kicked up.  Here’s where the white knuckles come in.  In spite of the power that had been given to them, and the power they had seen on display, the disciples were now over-powered by fear.  And worse still, they were fighting the wind and the waves in their own power – and they were losing (Verses 47-48).  The fact that Jesus came walking on the water in the “fourth watch” tells us that these guys had been “toiling” in their own strength for most of the night.  They were so shaken up by the storm that they couldn’t even recognize their own Salvation walking on the water, and they first thought Jesus was a ghost (which, of course, only shook them up even more).

But notice the contrast in Jesus’ reaction.  He’s not rattled.  He’s not even running.  He walks to them on the water (the waves are no threat to Him), tells them to “Be of good cheer” (the exact opposite of what they were at that moment), and steps into the boat.  And once He enters the boat, His mere presence is enough to bring the storm to a screeching halt (Verses 50-51).

I really can’t fault the disciples for their next response, because I catch myself doing the same thing.  Their next response is to be amazed, as if they had never seen such great power exercised on their behalf before, when in truth, they had seen the power of God in action earlier that day, and the day before that, and the day before that (Verses 51-52).

I suppose white knuckles are a part of being human, but can I tell you, they’re a waste of energy in the presence of Almighty God.  When He tells us to cast our cares on Him, He really means it, and He is more than able to handle it without our help, thank you very much (Matthew 6:25-34, 11:28-29, I Peter 5:6-7).

Think back (and I doubt you’ll have to think back far).  Who has He provided for in your presence?  Who has He healed? Who has He changed? Who has He blessed and rescued and made Himself real to?  (Psalm 66, 103, 124)  I’m sure if we were all together in a room, we could share some amazing stories with each other about all we have seen Him do (Psalm 89:1, Colossians 2:6-7, Hebrews 13:15).  And yet, at every bump in the road, we stumble and forget His greatness, and we “toil” in vain to fix our own road, rather than letting Him take over.

And so, in conclusion, I’ll tell you what I have to tell myself nearly every day for one reason or another. Put the problem in His Hands.  Put the solution in His Hands.  Put your fears, your assumptions, your desires, and everything that you think should happen in His Hands.

Stop trying to figure it all out.  No really, just stop. It’s so simple.  He is so Sovereign (Psalm 147, Hebrews 1:1-3, Revelation 19:6) – and anything and everything that we manage to entrust to Him is absolutely, undoubtedly, and ever-amazingly safe in His all-sufficient Hands.