The Hand of God on Us

“Because the hand of the Lord my God was on me, I took courage.” A friend had given me that verse and I have clung to it. That is a word for us today, no matter what we are encountering in our lives. Because the hand of the Lord your God is on you in whatsoever you are facing today, you have the courage. Let each of us take a moment to feel the Lord place His gracious hand on us to bestow His blessing, strength, and courage for this season.

The hand of the Lord on us imparts active courage. Courage always lifts us off the immobilized couch to mobilize for His purpose. The Lord has put a divine thirst, a royal purpose in each of our hearts. Ezra was just a teacher exiled in Babylon. But God had put in Ezra’s heart to see God’s people worship and proclaim His Word in the temple of Jerusalem, which 60 years after being built, laid empty and dormant of worship and God’s word. Ezra was an ordinary nobody. But because the hand of the Lord was on him, he took courage to move thousands of the leaders back to Jerusalem to restore worship and the obeying of God’s Word. Because his hand is on us, we have the courage to take the next steps.

The hand of the Lord our God on us emboldens us to make audacious God-size asks, not puny prayers. “The King granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him” (Ezra 7:6). I don’t know about you, but I have prayers that I don’t have the faith for. But because the hand of the Lord is on us, we can bellow these God-size prayers. The result of Ezra’s prayers was that the King not only provided more than enough for replenishing the temple, but that “anything else needed,” the King will provide from the royal treasury (7:20). In the same way, the Lord will hear everything you ask. And more. He will provide for the anything else needed. And as Ezra gathered thousands of men, women, and children to make the dangerous trek from Babylon to Jerusalem, he again experienced that “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him . . . So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.” (8:22-23) Let’s have the audacity to ask for that one thing that seems too impossible, too daunting. Let’s ask for anything else needed.

The hand of the Lord on us protects us, our families, and our teams on the journey he has for us. “The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way. So we arrived in Jerusalem . . .” (8:31-32) His gracious hand on us provides safety in danger and adversity.

Why was the hand of the Lord on Ezra? “For the gracious hand of his God was on him because he devoted himself to the study (literally “seek” God’s Word) and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel” (10). So the Lord’s gracious hand is on us who love, obey, and teach God’s Word. What Ezra taught, he lived. What he studied, he obeyed.

So, let us devote ourselves to love, obey, and proclaim God’s Word, in order that the hand of the Lord our God may be upon us today, to give us active courage, to galvanize His mission, to embolden us to pray God-size prayers, and to envelop us with safety and protection.

About the Author: Mary Ho is the All Nations International Executive Leader

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