He's got the whole world in His hands

I remember growing up in Sunday school and children church singing “He’s got the whole world in His hands….” The different verses would change where it said whole world and we would sing about everyone and everything we knew, “he’s got the mama’s and the babies in His hands, He’s got the daddy’s and the grandma’s in His hands… He’s got the whole world in His hands…” As a little kid that meant next to nothing I mean really, how much can you hold in your hand? However, as I have grown both physically and in my faith, that song means so much to me. God, the God of the universe literally holds everything and everyone in His hands. I am reminded on John 16:33, “In the world you will have trouble but take heart, for I have overcome the world.” That verse means what it says. God sent Jesus, God in the flesh, down to Earth to overcome all that is of the world. Literally, God has the world in His hands.  Further than that, the same God of the entire world, entire universe, holds us in His hands, like an earthly parent holds his/her child.  My almost 2 year old has hit a streak of wanting to be held. When he is scared, he wants to be held. When he is tired, he wants to be held. When he just needs to relax and feel warmth, he wants to be held. Guess what? That is how God is with us. The same God who holds the whole world wants to embrace us just like Clay wants to be embraced by me. When we have too many burdens to carry, He tells us to bring them to Him. When are tired, He says He will give us rest. When we need a new beginning, He says He will provide it. When we need love, He is the ultimate provider. Ultimately, when we need protection, He is our eternal shelter.

I can write on this topic of God wanting to hold us all day long, but truthfully, what do we want to be held? People, even “Christians” want to give God the “bad” stuff. We want him to hold our burdens and the hard parts of our life. Honestly, we blame Him for the bad part much less expect Him to hold it like it was His fault to start off with. We run to Him as a shelter when things are tough because as humans, we want someone else to handle the bad in our lives. It is easy to give Him the grief we can’t endure on our own, or the bad friendship that we just don’t want to deal with anymore, or the Sundays where we have nothing better to do but show up in church.

But what about the things of this earth that bring us joy, why are we not as willing to give those things to God and let Him hold them as well? For me, it was the high school love relationship that I thought I could handle on my own. I thought it was okay for that to be the only part of my life that I didn’t let God hold. Before long, it was the only thing holding me and the only thing I held onto. It left me in total despair and total loneliness because I had let that stupid boy “hold me” instead of my Heavenly Father. The truth is, even though we only want to let God hold the hard and bad parts of our lives, most often we mess up most by holding onto the finer things in life. Because more often than not, those are the things we should willingly let Him hold, probably before we even get our hands on them, so to speak. The things that we must end up turning back over to God after they destroy us could cause a lot less hurt if we turned them over at the very beginning.

I don’t know about you, but I am a bit of a control freak and the idea of letting someone else hold every aspect of myself and my life sometimes “freaks” me out. It is crazy to think that like I said before that the God of the entire universe wants to hold us and our lives, too! He wants the good, the bad and even the ugliest parts of our lives! I like tot think of Him as a friend who I would tell my deepest and darkest secrets too but who I would also call to tell them really exciting news! I am reminded of my 2 year old… when he figures out a new toy, he wants to show me. When he makes a mess on the kitchen floor, he still calls me to see. The good parts of his day and the bad— I am a part of it all and I hold him through all of it. That is what God wants from us, HE WANTS to hold us and even more than that, He wants us to love to be held by Him. He wants to embrace us just as I embrace Clay, as our Father; He wants to hold us. “and by Him we cry, Abba Father, for the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s Children.” (Romans 8:15-16)

Despite the fact that I am a control freak, I have learned that when we are able to relinquish the control to God as our Father, as my Father, the control of my whole life—I am given a spirit of peace, of renewal, of mercy and of steadfast love. The power is God is relentless and abundant, for He has the power to hold me, to hold you and anyone else who lets Him, anyone else who truly loves Him! I am thankful that He surely does have the whole world in His hands.