{"id":22470,"date":"2020-06-08T12:00:50","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T17:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/?p=22470"},"modified":"2020-06-08T14:22:28","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T19:22:28","slug":"bible-moment-we-are-in-gods-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/bible-moment-we-are-in-gods-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Moment: We are in God\u2019s hands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cIn you, O Lord have I taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness\u2026.Into your hands I commend my spirit, for you have redeemed me, O Lord, O God of truth.\u201d <\/em>
(Psalm 31:1, 5)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take\na Moment to Ponder<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is unfortunate but necessary at times for certain things to happen for us to recognize that we are nothing before God. Things that shake us and cause us to ponder. We are enduring such times now as we manoeuvre COVID 19, and as humans, we are afraid, concerned and anxious. Let us be encouraged by the words of the Psalmist as he addresses God, and acknowledging, \u201cMy times are in your hand..\u201d We need to acknowledge that it is God who is in control and God holds us in His hands. In making the acknowledgement from the beginning that God is his refuge, the psalmist expects certain things from God. He expects deliverance in God\u2019s righteousness; he expects God to listen to him and quickly deliver him; he expects God to lead him and guide him and take him out of trouble. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are our expectations of God, and are\nthey realistic and fair expectations? Can we truly have expectations of God if\nwe do not have a relationship with Him? If we have not taken refuge in God, can\nwe truly look to Him for help? I believe that whatever the nature of our\nrelationship with God, God will always be there to help us. It would be better\nif we found ourselves in the position where we acknowledged that God is present\nand God is the one who holds us in His hands. It would be good if we\nacknowledged that God provides the safety net that we fall into so many times.\nIf we can truly say, like the psalmist, that we have taken refuge in the Lord,\nthen our expectations may not be too farfetched. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is during times of crises that we truly\nsee the awesome power of God. It is during times of crises that we hear that\ncalming voice of God telling us, \u201cDo not be afraid.\u201d I believe that all of us\nat this time would definitely love to hear those words, and be given the\nreassurance that during these turbulent times of COVID 19 that things will be\nok. It is at times like these that we need to draw closer to God. It is in\ntimes like these that we need to examine the nature of our relationship with\nGod. Make no mistake, God is ALWAYS there for us regardless, but it would be\nbetter if we acknowledged God and what God continues to do for us. We must\nalways remember that we are in God\u2019s hands. We must remember that God holds us\nin His hands providing comfort and protection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practical\nAction<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We need to become more conscious of where we\nstand with God. We must be able to recognize that we have taken refuge in God\nand God holds us in His hands. We should also find ourselves encouraging others\nto do the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nMoment in Prayer<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Gracious God, whom truly to know you is everlasting life, help us to recognize and acknowledge we are in your hands. We pray that as a nation and as your world enduring challenging times, help us to rely on you and feel your presence close to us always; continue to hold us in your hands so that we feel comforted and protected. Continue to walk with us and guide us as we do your will. Amen. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contributed by: <\/em><\/strong>
<\/em>Very Rev. Fr. Richard A. Tucker<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIn you, O Lord have I taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness\u2026.Into your hands I commend my spirit, for you have redeemed me, O Lord, O God of truth.\u201d (Psalm 31:1, 5) Take a Moment to Ponder It is unfortunate but necessary at times for certain things…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":22471,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-moment","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22472,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22470\/revisions\/22472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}