Time in His Hands

One-Year Bible: 01/11/2023

Genesis 24:52-26:16

TIME IN HIS HANDS

Tess: (To Monica) “God holds time in his hands like a ball of string--yesterday, today, tomorrow, now, and forever, right here where he can see it, all at once. But for everyone else, he stretches time out. He lays it along a golden thread so that humans can imagine it in a straight line.” (Touched by an Angel, New Years' Eve Episode ‘Millennium’)

Here we are at the beginning of a brand new year with all kinds of decisions to make in the coming days. Each decision will lead us down a unique path that will alter our destiny. We sometimes worry about what lies ahead as we make difficult decisions. We wonder, “Where is God in the midst of struggle?”

Today’s passage is about a big struggle… The struggle of TWO NATIONS.

Why did God choose Abraham over Lot? Why are the two babies fighting in Rebekah’s womb before their birth? Why did he allow Jacob to trick his father Isaac into getting the blessing that was to belong to Esau?

Today we get an “inside peak”... inside the womb, that is!

We know that Lot did not have a strong faith in God, but Abraham was known as “a friend of God.” Even when he made mistakes, he always talked with God. He lived 175 years and died at a ripe old age.

God is now transferring His blessing to Isaac, who was forty years old and now married to Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, Abraham’s relative. Isaac pleaded with the LORD on behalf of his wife because she could not have children. The LORD answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins. There were no ultrasounds in that day, so how did she know she was having twins?

“But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So, she went to ask the LORD about it. ‘Why is this happening to me?” she asked.

The Lord answered her question, “The sons in your womb will become TWO NATIONS. From the beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other, and your older son will serve your younger son.” (Gen. 25: 23)

Isaac would love Esau, the rugged, redheaded outdoorsman, but Rebekah would love Jacob, the man at her side cooking stew.

Who did God love more? He loved us more!

Although He loved Abraham and his descendants, His choices were based on creating a nation to bring the Messiah through a holy nation.

I can hear the voice of Tess from the series “Touched by an Angel” trying to explain this to us from the eyes of an angel…. “God holds time in his hands like a ball of string--yesterday, today, tomorrow, now, and forever, right here where he can see it, all at once. But for everyone else, he stretches time out. He lays it along a golden thread so that humans can imagine it in a straight line.” (Tess from Touched by an Angel)

As you approach your new year, be sure to ask of God as he “holds time in his hands like a ball of string… yesterday, today, and tomorrow.” He alone knows the answers to all your longings and questions.

I loved Tess's message to people seeking God because it was “right on” biblically. She would say, “Baby, God loves you.”

And that, my friends, answers all of your “Why” questions.

The one who “HOLDS TIME IN HIS HANDS” holds your hand too!