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Devotional for March 29, 2020

Still In His Good Hands

"The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." (Psalm 24:1 NIV)


A certain insurance company frequently asks in its ads, "Are you in good hands?" And frequently we may wonder, with the pandemic seeming to worsen and not even reaching its predicted peak, whether we are in good hands, or whether events are doomed to spiral out of control. 


The answer to that question can simply be found in a popular gospel and camp song, which goes, "He's got the whole world in His hands." Our passage today gives us the promise that all the earth still belongs to God, and remains under His control. He created the earth - but He then did not, as some would imagine, step back and simply watch everything unfold, as a machine. Nor did He simply set natural processes in place, but remains distant and uninvolved Himself.


Instead, He continues to remain actively and intimately involved. So much so that He sent His Son to become a human being like the humans He created, die on a cross, and then rise again, to solve the ultimate problems plaguing earth - sin and death - and defeat them once and for all. Jesus became Immanuel - God with us. God present with us, active with us, involved with us. While He was on this earth, Jesus was God active and involved, healing the sick, raising the dead, proclaiming God's Kingdom and demonstrating His active power. In other words, He showed that God not only created the world, but, through Him, God continues to be actively involved in it. He remains God active and involved, because He is still with us. He is not far away, distant and uninvolved, but He is still here present with us, actively involved, continuing to work in power. His Holy Spirit continues to work in power to overcome everything that would try to oppose God, and any hope that He remains active and involved. The Holy Spirit is the very activity and involvement of God, working His will and power throughout history and every earthly event. The Holy Spirit is even active in the midst of this pandemic, working to bring a solution and an end to it - even as He has brought all disasters to a conclusion, and shown that God ultimately triumphs.

And so, we can truly say with confidence: we are in good hands. We are in the good hands of God, who has the whole world, and all of us, in His hands. He remains active and involved, and He is actively involved with us.

Dear God, thank you that the world is still in your hands, you are still in control, and you have me in good hands. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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