A hand of reassurance
“The Lord’s hand was with them.” Acts 11:21a
Imagine for a moment you are in the midst of a very tense and stressful situation. As you are sitting there wondering how to deal with things you feel the familiar touch of a reassuring hand on your shoulder. That doesn’t necessarily solve everything, but at least it assures you that you are not alone and you have someone to help you and be with you.
You might say that the context for our Bible verse for this week was a tense and stressful situation. Two verses before this verse we are told “Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed.” There are probably several words in that sentence which jump out at you in that verse “persecution” and “killed.” I don’t know about you, but if I knew that people were being persecuted, I’d find that stressful and my stress would be intensified if I heard that someone was killed as a result of the persecution.
In the midst of that situation comes our Bible verse for this week “The Lord’s hand was with them.” More than just a familiar human hand on their shoulder, the early Christians in the midst of persecution felt the hand of God on them. That gave them the power, assistance, and working of God and reassured and comforted them.
What is amazing is what having the Lord’s hand with them emboldened these Christians to do in the face of persecution. They were not afraid of being persecuted and instead they were “telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus” and the result was that “a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.”
What makes this even a little more interesting is the man who was giving this report – Peter. Yes, the very same Peter who instead of being willing to face persecution for knowing Jesus as he was on trial before his crucifixion, instead denied that he knew Jesus at all.
You might wonder what exactly was “The Lord’s hand (that) was with them.” This is the strength which God promises to his people who trust in him and seek his strength through the power of his Word. Time and time again he tells us things like “Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” (Psalm 50:15).
It may or may not be persecution which we face. But every one of us faces situations which are tense and/or stressful. How wonderful would it be at such a time to feel and know that “The Lord’s hand was with (you)”? You can! You can take your stressful situation to the Lord in prayer. You can seek his peace, power and guidance through the power of his Word. When you do that “The Lord’s hand” will be with you and on you to reassure and comfort you!