"The Soft Hands of God"

After such a long period of inactivity while recovering from surgery I have found my hands and feet have developed very dry skin. With winter coming a bit early in Middle Tennessee the dry air of the heater has made it even worse. Mary’s recommendation of lotion has made very good sense!

That whole episode got me to thinking. You can tell a lot about people by their hands. You can get a clue to a person’s self image by their handshake. The confident person has a solid grip. And the person who lacks confidence barely grips your hand at all. The nervous or hyper person often reveals it by their shaking hands, gnawed fingernails or constantly moving hands. You can see tell a calm and confident person by the absence of these things. Their hands are steady. You can gain an insight into the kind of work that a person does by their hands. A person who does physical and strenuous labor has hands that have calluses. They are rough and have become so because of the constant stress their hands are put through. Others who do delicate work have hands that are extremely sensitive to touch.

I know it seems like I am pretty far afield, but I need to give you an image that you can relate to this morning. In order to understand God we must sometimes think in terms of opposites. That’s the case this morning. We need to see that God is beyond us and independent of us, but at the same time He has made Himself near. He is strong yet tender. He is powerful but yet has soft hands. Here’s the image Isaiah brings to us:

“Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed out the mountains and the hills? Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to be his teacher or counselor? Has the Lord ever needed anyone's advice? Does he need instruction about what is good or what is best? No, for all the nations of the world are nothing in comparison with him. They are but a drop in the bucket, dust on the scales. He picks up the islands as though they had no weight at all. All Lebanon's forests do not contain sufficient fuel to consume a sacrifice large enough to honor him. All Lebanon's sacrificial animals would not make an offering worthy of our God. The nations of the world are as nothing to him. In his eyes they are less than nothing – mere emptiness and froth. O Israel, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? How can you say God refuses to hear your case? Have you never heard or understood? Don't you know that the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:12-17; 27-31, NLV).

In order to describe God’s unique character I need to give you two theological words this morning. The first word is "transcendence". Transcendence means literally, "to climb across." It is defined as "exceeding the usual limits." When we speak of the transcendence of God we are talking about that sense in which God is above and beyond us. He is higher than the world. He has absolute power over the world. The world has no power over Him. Transcendence describes God in His consuming majesty, His exalted loftiness. He is an infinite cut above everything else. This is the description Isaiah uses in the first part of today’s passage. However, there is a second word I want to give you today. It is the word "immanent". The dictionary defines immanence as: "existing in, and extending into, all parts of the created world." When we say that God is immanent we are affirming that God is close to us. Though God is great and far superior and different from us, He is also personal. He condescends (or lowers Himself) to be close to us and to be known by us.

This is the astounding thing about the Christian faith. We affirm that God is Creator, He is supreme, He is above us and yet, "He walks with me and talks with me, and tells me that I am His own." Let me say it another way: God has soft hands AND strong arms! No wonder the prophet says, "But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” Let Him hold you in His hands today!