When God holds you in the palm of His hands

I’d spent the day touring a boarding school in Germany and the uncertainty of the future weighed heavily on my shoulders.

It was evening and I leaned back into the chair listening to the preacher from England. The translation into German made his talk go slower and my thoughts drifted. Would I be able to send my child far away from home at 14?  How would we make the payments? Would she even want to go? What about the awful stories of missionary boarding schools?

The meeting came to an end and we were asked to stand.

“Before we close tonight, I want to ask – does July 19 mean something to anyone here?”

Suddenly my eyes widened. When no one responded, I raised my hand. July 19 is my husband’s birthday!  The preacher came over and told me he had a word from God for me – something that was for both us.

“I don’t know what you are facing, but rest assured, God has you in the palm of his hands.”

I’ve carried that word with me since then and thought of it daily.

The reality of it is, I’ve been worried not only of my daughter’s future schooling but of the more urgent present. As a missionary family, we’re due for a furlough in the States this summer, and I’ve been grinding my teeth at night thinking about how we’ll make it for six months without a home or a vehicle. We’ve built our lives here in Central Europe for the past 14 years. Who would rent to the five of us plus our ever-growing Alaskan Malamute?

But the preacher’s word echoes in my mind: God has you in the palm of His hands.

Maybe like me, you need to be reminded of God’s word to trust Him and rest in His care.

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” encourages the apostle Peter. And in another place the psalmist says, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you.”

The weekend before my trip to Germany, I felt a hand tap on my shoulder just as the church service ended.

“Do you remember me?” asked the lady. I nodded eagerly. Four months earlier, she’d given me a prophetic word that’s become my life verse for 2017. “I’ve got something for you,” she said as she pulled a card from her purse. The card had the drawing of a small child snuggled in the palm of God’s hand with the words written in Czech: You are my God; you know my future; no one can take me from your hands.

Maybe as you’re reading this post, God is asking you to rest in Him — just like a small child does in the arms of a loving parent. A child with a loving father does not worry about where his next meal will come from or whether the bills will get paid this month. He simply trusts his father to work it all out.

 “I don’t know what you are facing, but rest assured, God has you in the palm of his hands.”

The card from the lady and the word from the preacher made me feel loved. No one else had a husband whose birthday was July 19 in the room that night. I’d never met the preacher before; he couldn’t have known.

Wow, thank you Father.  You care so much for me. And I know that He cares just as much for you, my friend. Part of me getting the message was so that I could share it to encourage others. No matter what you’re facing today, our God is bigger. He’s more than able to move the mountains in your life.

Your name, my name is engraved in the palm of His hands. We are never forgotten. He loves us that much, my friend. Let’s choose to rest in Him today.