Faith With Purpose: Putting Things In God’s Hands

“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” Acts 20:32

Paul is having to depart from Ephesus, a church that he invested quite a bit of time and effort in. He knew he had to move on knowing that he would not ever see their faces again. As difficult as it was to leave, what made it somewhat easier was that he could commend them to God! He simply put them in God’s hands and he knew that they would be alright.

This can be a difficult thing with some people. They like to feel that they are in control of everything and when they are not they tend to feel helpless, causing them to panic. Paul knew that there would be those who would invade the church from outside and rise up from the inside to steer them out of the ways of Christ and the sound doctrine that he labored in teaching them. But, nevertheless, he knew that he had to depart, and by faith, trust that God was going to preserve and guard them in their times of testing.

We all have experience this letting go in one way or another. There are things that arise in our personal lives that we no power or control over such as other people’s actions, things in the past, or things in the future. It is then that we have to let go and let God handle these as he sees fit. There are situations with our health that we can’t control and we have to put the situation into the hands of God and a physician in whom he has equipped to diagnose and treat the issue. The hardest thing to turnover to God is our children. We raise them to the best of our ability in the light of the scriptures. We teach them about what it means to live for God and how to treat others. We try to equip them with the knowledge of everyday task, such as a good work ethic, managing money, and preparing them for marriage and eventually their own children someday. When the time comes that they move out or get married and you see them pull out of the driveway, leaving home and entering into a life of their own, all you can do it whisper a prayer and commend them to God.

Paul saw the church of Ephesus in the same way as a parent sees a child. He birthed them, fed them, weaned them, and brought them to a place of maturity and now he must leave them to themselves. What comfort he had in knowing that he put them in the Lords hands. Whatever it is that we commend to the Lord, we can be comforted by remembering the words of Isaiah 49:16 “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” Isaiah 49:16 What God is saying to Israel is you are in my hands and always in my memory. God has gifted us with the wisdom and the ability to handle certain situations with our own hands. But what confidence we have when we can commend those situations and things in God’s hands that we have no control over. The biggest comfort we have is when we put our own lives into his hands and know that “No man can pluck us out of them!” (John 10:29)

Pastor Robby