What a powerful statement: “With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please” (Jeremiah 27:5). Therefore, we should wonder why we sometimes lack what we need. My brother, my sister, should we not individually ask ourselves: ‘if God can give to anyone as He pleases, why don’t I receive from Him when I ask Him? Yet, the Bible also says that God is willing to give us good things: “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11). What have you expected from God that you think His hand is too far to reach? My friend, the Bible says: “Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone” (1 Chronicles 29:12).
Yes, in Christ, we enjoy the riches, the goodness, the grace of God and despite the sufferings or pains that may come along our way in this life, we have the assurance that the Lord will certainly never leave us desperate:
– When Jeremiah did not know what to say, “Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth” (Jeremiah 1:9).
– When Moses found himself in front of the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s troop riding after them, the Lord told Moses: “Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground” (Exodus 14:16 and 21) and when all the Israelites had crossed, the Lord said to Moses to stretch out his hand for the see to come back to its place (Exodus 14:26-27).
-When Jesus healed a “man with a shriveled hand” (Matthew 12:10), He did not pray or touch the man, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other” (Matthew 12:13).
My friend, passages where the Lord stretched His hand or asked someone to do so are found throughout the Word. Maybe today, as you understand what the Word says, you will know how to pray to make the earth shake under your feet to see a change in your circumstances just like Peter and John did: after worshipping God (Acts 4:1-28), all they asked Him was: “And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29-30)…. then it is written: “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:31).
My friend, the Lord wants to stretch His mighty hand over each of us, over our loved ones and over our businesses… You see, whenever a stretched hand had produced something, we note that God was in control… Sometimes we want to dictate to God the Creator of all things what we want Him to do for us while, in fact, we should learn to ask Him to stretch His hand over our lives, family, situations. In other words, we should learn to allow Him to do things His way: Job’s life took such a dramatic turn that nobody (including us if we did not have the revelation that we have today) would have believed that God’s hand was stretched over him… Therefore, just like Job, we should use our trust and faith in the Lord as well as our commitment to Jesus to try to do what is pleasing to God and see His stretched hand heal, restore and produce signs and wonders that will attract those who have not yet believed to Him. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.