Green Lane
Shirley
Solihull
West Midlands
B90 1AA
Heartbeat 2010 Mar 14
Stretch out your hand Lord!
After Peter and John had been released from prison in Acts 4, the church in Jerusalem got together and gave thanks to God for their safe release. They finished with these words - "Stretch our your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
The picture of God's arms and hands are used throughout the Bible to show us what God is like. He doesn't of course literally have arms and hands, but our understanding of arms and hands helps us begin to understand the character and actions of God.
We discover God's strength, protection and security through these words - 'The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you.' The coming Messiah and Saviour, Jesus, is pictured as a tender and loving shepherd who 'will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart.'
His deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt is portrayed as being by 'God's mighty hand and his outstretched arm.'
Those early Christians knew what God was like from the Old Testament Jewish scriptures. He was powerful and mighty - able to save and able to dramatically intervene in people's lives.
Part of our prayer on Friday was that God would 'stretch our His hand' in the situations we are in, to the people we are close to and to the communities we are part of. Let's continue to pray that prayer, looking to God to stretch out his hand and touch the lives of those around us.
