|
Listen to this devotional: |
Listen while you read: "How Firm A Foundation"1 (Lyrics) |
Isaiah 35:8-9 – There will be a road there. This highway will be called "The Holy Road." … There will be no dangers on that road. … That road will be for the people God saves. (ERV)
When I was young, back in the Alaskan bush, we had to fly in and out of mining camps as my father and grandfather were prospectors. There were no year-round roads, due to seasonal melting of the permafrost. One time when the plane didn't come, we got a message over shortwave radio, our only communication. Our pilot had received a better offer from a party of hunters and had taken the plane in which we regularly flew. They were sending another. When the second plane arrived, my mother was still indignant that we'd been pushed aside. As we flew over the dark, fir-covered mountains, we saw something red below. Crashed into the side of a mountain was the wreckage of the little red plane that we would have been on. Everyone on board had been killed. We were living in the hand of God.
Later, during World War II, while my father was away, mother was hanging diapers on a line strung between two trees. Suddenly an enemy plane appeared, flying low. Mother grabbed my sister and I and fled to a root cellar, dug out of the hillside. There we huddled till my father returned. He was afraid that the string of diapers might have looked like a signal. Just then, we heard a plane landing. Had they returned? My father went to the door. It was the U.S. Marines in a hurry to evacuate us. We were living in the hand of God.
We moved to a small cabin near Fairbanks, Alaska, and my father went back prospecting. In the night, a fire started and burned that cabin to the ground. At 50 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-45.5 degrees Celsius), it was so cold that water froze in the firemen's hoses when they came to help. Miraculously, we didn't burn inside the cabin. We were living in the hand of God.
These are pieces of my past. Some people live in the past wishing it were better. Others, who buy lottery tickets, live in the future. Our past is history, our future a mystery. Both are prisons. Our only chance at freedom is to live today with our hand in the hand of God.
Isaiah 40:28-29a,31a – Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is an eternal God, the Creator of the whole earth. He does not get tired or weary; there is no limit to his wisdom. He gives strength to those who are tired. Those who wait for the Lord's help find renewed strength, they rise up as if they had eagles' wings. (NET)
Prayer: Dear God, You remind us not to fear the future since You are already there. Keep us walking on Your great highway with our hand in Yours. Thank You for continuing to provide experiences that confirm Your faithfulness. Teach us to know Your voice and daily to trust in Your Word. Amen.
Forward this devotional Share this devotional on Facebook Like PresbyCan on Facebook
Although PresbyCan doesn't have a mobile app, you can still have a PresbyCan icon on your mobile phone home screen. 
Tuesday, November 28, 2023 – In Cuba — Pray that Los Pinos Nuevos(LPN) pastors would serve with passion, always guided by God amidst this current crisis in Cuba, and that they would always show love in practical ways as they proclaim the gospel. Pray that each LPN pastor would have a vibrant spiritual life of communion with God and dependence upon the Holy Spirit.
Prayer for Healing.: "Update November 27, 2023: A is feeling much better. Thank you for your prayers. M passed away,..." 
Granddaughter M: "Update November 26, 2023: M's back is improved. She has resigned from her former job which was..." 
Wonderful stories of God’s protection, Rose.
Thank you. This article is powerful reading. We are blessed.
Amazing stories and post, Rose. Thank you and God bless!
What wonderful memories to share with your family and with us!
Thank you for sharing this devotional message with us today. Blessings.
All I can say is WOW! God can be trusted and is faithful. I also need to do likewise.
What an amazing, blessed life you have had and how wonderful that you recognize it!
Thanks; needed that one, just excellent point.
Thanks.
Amen Rose. Thanks so much for sharing this vital truth.
Blessings.
Thank you, Rose. This is a lovely read. Blessings on your day today.
(Ontario)
Wow, this is a really good devotional. It’s always good to remember the times when God has worked on our behalf. Thank you for this.
What a life full of events you have had Rose and how they colour your devotionals and prayers.
God Bless.
Dear Rose,
Thank you for telling of God’s faithfulness with several reports of his intervening and saving.
I pray for continued blessings for you and yours. Keep writing.
Hello Rose,
Thank you for this personal and deep message and the promise of God’s faithfulness which is its core.
Blessings,
(BC)
Good morning Rose, thanks for your submission today; it almost felt like reading a mystery novel!
To be in the hand of God is where we want to be and where there is sure protection and direction.
Thank you so much Rose for today’s devotional. I found it to be so encouraging! To remind us of how God’s plans always work out the best for us, even if at the time we cannot see it.
Thank you for sharing your inspiring stories!
What a beautiful record of His hand on your lives. Your stories have really touched me, Rose. Thank you so much for sharing your proof that God has His hand on the lives of those who seek Him and obey His commands and precepts. Blessings on your day.
Thank you for reminding us of the fact that we are in God’s hands.
So many times we are spared. Often we know and often we don’t.
Thank you, Lord, for your protective hand.
Shalom.
Dear Rose,
What a beautiful picture you illustrated for me today of living in the hand of God.
What marvelous stories God has given you so you can tell others of his faithfulness.
Blessings on your day.
Hi Precious Rose,
Mother Teresa once said “I am a pencil in the hand of God” … I think you are too! Thank you for today’s devotional on “Living In The Hand Of God” and Thank you the many other devotionals you have shared in the past. May many blessings upon your day.
Dear Rose,
Thank you for this very interesting and meaningful devotional. You truly were in God’s hands during those very close tragedies. Our God is truly always there ready to shield and protect us.
Blessings,
(South America)
Thank you, Rose, for your sharing.
Reminds me of the many times God kept me and my family from danger.
He definitely led us and protected us.
And still today he leads me in my journey.
Blessings,
(Quebec)
Your messages are so inspiring, Rose. What an eclectic life you have had.
I love hearing of the ‘God’ moments in peoples’ lives. They affirm the presence of a God much greater than we can ever know.
Keep on sharing,
Blessings always,
(ON.)
Hi Rose,
It is amazing how some things work out for us. The passage from Isaiah about the eagles is one of my favorite ones and I have used it quite often, in a message as well as a children’s story.
It is so good to remember the things of the past and to comfort from God’s word at the present time. Thank you for writing
Blessings.
Just what I need at this point in my life. I am in the midst of selling our house. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when we had a flood in our basement due to all that snow we had and a couple of days of warm weather.
I love it here. I am inspired by looking out my front living room window, etc. I will miss the view of the lake and so much more. So… I am placing my hand into God’s hand, waiting and trusting that He will find the “perfect” new home for me and my husband. Your prayers are appreciated.
Thank you Rose, for your testimony of “Living in the Hand of God.”
Sometimes we don’t know it until years later when we look back and see that in His Providence, His loving care and protection was there all the time.
(CA)
Incredible!!!! Thanks. I want to share this.
What an exciting / difficult childhood you had!
Your continuing life story, difficult though it has undoubtedly been in places along the way, is further evidence of God’s hand in your life all through the years. Blessings to you, Rose!
It took this devotional for me to realize that prospectors had families with them. Somehow, I thought that the men determined to go find their luck were without attachments. I cannot imagine the life your mother must have had. She must have been made of tough stuff. You certainly have had challenging life!
Interesting that you feel that the past and future are prisons that our freedom comes through trusting that the hand of God guides us. Keep writing!
I often give Him thanks even though at the time I felt like my timing was really important to me. Mine are no so dramatic and large, rather, for example as I leave my home and have to go back inside to pick up something I left inside. Then as I drive a red light even further delays me. That’s when I give thanks, knowing that God hears me every time I ask for safety on the road and those little delays are part of His plan for my life that particular day.
Dear Rose, Your Devotions often times have me sitting on the edge of my seat. The Lord was truly with you in the many Valley of the Shadows of Death. I thank God for your strong faith In Him. You are precious Rose!
Dear Rose,
Thank you for a most timely and reassuring devotional. I have spent (ruined?) so many days in my life, thinking what if I had only done this or worry about things in the future did not come to pass, that I could to enjoy the blessings of the moment. The Lord only knows how many other person’s days I have ruined with my selfish frettings. We really do need to put our trust in the Lord, because he will provide and abundantly.
Grace and Peace.