Question 1

What does “the hand of God” mean, and how does God work?

Accepted Answer

Psalm 66:5Come and see what our God has done, what awesome miracles he performs for people!God works on behalf of his people in miraculous ways. The daily news is filled with everything bad happening in the world. But if we take a moment and step back, we can begin to get a glimpse of God’s quiet miracles working in many lives—even our own—every day. His hand is there, even when we don’t see it.Deuteronomy 4:34“Has any other god dared to take a nation for himself out of another nation by means of trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, a strong hand, a powerful arm, and terrifying acts? Yet that is what the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, right before your eyes.”Daniel 6:27“He rescues and saves his people; he performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”God works through trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, awesome power, and even terrifying acts. God works to rescue and save his people.Jeremiah 31:35It is the Lord who provides the sun to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night, and who stirs the sea into roaring waves. His name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and this is what he says:Only the Creator can control creation. All of creation is a testimony to the powerful hand of God. The fact that the sun rises and warms us, that the rains water the land, and that the seasons continue without fail, reveals a God who still holds the world in his hands.

Question 2

What does God’s hand bring to me in this world today?

Accepted Answer

James 1:17Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.Everything good and perfect comes from God’s hand.Job 2:10“Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.James 1:2-4Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.Sometimes God withdraws his hand and allows (not causes) bad things to happen to good people. Why? Because his long-range eternal plans for our greater good may not fit our short-range view of comfort. Often, our struggle is necessary for growth.Ecclesiastes 2:24-25So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him?The pleasure that comes from God’s provision in our lives transcends the pleasure of the provisions themselves. For example, we enjoy God’s good gift of daily food even more when we recognize the gift is from him. He is source of everything that is good.

Question 3

How can I remember God’s hand in past events of my life?

Accepted Answer

Psalm 103:2Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.Through our praise for God’s wonderful work, we reinforce the memory of what he has done and is doing in our lives.Psalm 40:5O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.Psalm 106:2Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord? Who can ever praise him enough?To recite God’s miracles in our lives is to recall and reinforce the impact of those miracles in our lives.Psalm 145:5I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles.Meditating on God’s work in our lives helps us remember all he has done for us, and gives us hope for what he will do for us in the future.Joshua 4:4-7So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”Psalm 71:18Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.Psalm 78:4, 7, 11We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders. . . . So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands. . . . They forgot what he had done—the great wonders he had shown them.Psalm 105:2, 5Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. . . . Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given,Sharing with children and grandchildren God’s past miracles on our behalf builds a heritage for future generations. Sometimes creating celebrations or items that memorialize God’s work in our lives can help us leave those reminders for future generations even after we are gone.

Hand of God