The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Psalm 19:1
The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.
Psalm 111:7
At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them.
Luke 4:40
Hands
I have encountered all three of these verses in my daily Bible reading in the last week. My current plan involves reading large chunks of scripture in one sitting. That is, read for long periods to seek to understand more deeply context and the beauty of the Bible’s language and its interwoven narrative. [Spoiler alert: The narrative – it’s amazing. The activity – long periods of reading – is a great antidote to daily busyness!]
The theme of the hand of God is one that has struck me – as you can see by the verses above. My sense of what God is reminding me of is that he wants us to look for, to search out, to understand each day, how his hand is involved in the world around us. And then, to use that as context for the way we consider the things we do and the things that happen around us. To trust in God’s good work; his perfect plan; his love and grace extended to humanity, and to be thankful for the way he has healed our brokenness.
Winds
Hasn’t it been a windy couple of weeks! It’s at times like these, when the winds whip up, the temperatures plummet – I find myself being thankful for the safety that the shelter of my home provides me and my family with.
I also remember the advice given to us when our kids were young – I think it was from a kids’ pastor at the church we were at. It wasn’t spiritual advice, just practical parenting advice (and for the teacher in me, practical for my day job too). As we were talking in a group after church, complaining about how unsettling and uncomfortable the bad weather was, she reminded us that if we were feeling it, how much more did we need to provide a sense of safety, emotional and physical, for our children during these times. Almost certainly, children are likely to be feeling the stresses of the weather in greater proportions, with less life experience to draw on to cope with it. What wonderful (and helpful) advice! As always, we will continue in our endeavours to do that here during school hours in amongst our various activities.
Change
The energy of the windy weather has been a reminder for me of how active and dynamic our world is. And it has caused me to contemplate that, at the centre of it, is the creator – our God – using his hands in known and unknown ways, all around us. Our God is not asleep – he is awake and active all the time. In “doing things”, God is part of the dynamism of the world we live in. Things happen, things change. He provides refuge, he shows his love, he changes lives, he gives wonderful provision – all in places where it previously wasn’t. He calls us, in our obedience to him, to change what we do. We live in a world of change. We see it all around us, even in this school – in how we do things as a community, in the lives of those we fellowship with.
As we face the challenges, personal and collectively, of our active God at work in our lives and in the lives of our community, may the words of the Psalms and the life example of Jesus, be our focus and our foundation.
And finally,
A good friend of mine regularly signs off his emails to me by using this beautiful expression of God’s promise to us, in the midst of ‘winds’ and ‘change’.
“In His Grip.”
educating 4 life, too 
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