Interesting title, huh? I'm sure you're wondering what the heck one has to do with the other. It's been in my head for several days and I'm not sure I can adequately explain it. But I'll try.
Last Sunday we had a guest pastor at our church. One of the things he said was that he doesn't worry about doing anything that will bring God's hand down on him. He worries about doing something that would cause God to take His hand away from him.
God always has His hand on believers. It's on our shoulder in good times. It's underneath us to support us in bad times. That hand of God keeps us strong and on the right course in life so we don't do something that damns us for eternity. It doesn't prevent us from sinning but it keeps the stains of sin from marking us permanently. We are forgiven. When we believe in God and Jesus Christ that hand never leaves us. It's on us constantly from the moment we believe until the we leave this Earth to be with Him.
Now here's what led me to finally put this in writing today.
We have a large, glass, walk-in shower in the master bathroom in our new home. When you finish the shower you have to clean the water off of the glass to prevent water spots that will eventually become permanent. So I bought a squeegee. Arden watched me clean the glass with that squeegee and asked me how I learned to do it. I relayed the following story:
When I was just out of high school I took a job at JC Penney auto center pumping gas. We had a small glass shack in the center where the cash register was. It had 1 chair for slow moments even though there were times when two or three of us were working. It wasn't very big.
Once every three months or so Penney's would hire a professional window washer to come in and clean all the windows. He used a wet rag to wash the windows then would use a squeegee to take the water off. He was really good at it. He would put the squeegee on the window on one side, go up, then over, then down the other side, turning at the bottom and going back up and over until all the water was gone. He never lifted the squeegee from the glass. From beginning to end the squeegee was in constant contact with the window. I watched him every time he did it. (OK - I'm sometimes fascinated by simple things.) I learned from watching him, though. I can do it pretty well myself.
Now maybe I'm a little weird but telling Arden this story reminded me of the pastor's words last week - that he never wanted to do anything that would cause him to be separated from the hand of God. Like the squeegee on the glass, we need God to keep His hand on us every day, until our lives are complete. Only with His help will we become clean and spot free.
Is God's hand on you today? Is He helping to keep you spot free? He will if you ask Him too. Like the squeegee cleaning the window without ever losing contact with the glass - God will guide and support you from beginning to end, without fail, if only you let Him.
I LIKED IT.
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