How do we see the hand of God move in our lives?
God's hand is always moving, meaning He is always at work, in our lives because God is sovereign over all life. Man may make plans but it is God who determines his steps (Proverbs 16:9). God's sovereign reign extends from the rise and fall of kings and nations to the very numbering of our days and hairs on our heads (Proverbs 21:1; Job 12:23; Psalm 47:8; Psalm 139:16; Matthew 10:30).In the life of a Christian, God's hand is not only always moving, but is always moving for the believer's ultimate good. This does not mean that all things that happen to a believer are good in themselves, but that God works them all together for good (Romans 8:28). This can be difficult to understand until one realizes that the ultimate good for a believer is not external earthly comfort but internal conformity to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29).
Two of the most important ways in which we can see God's hand move in our lives are through His Word and His Spirit. God's Word applied by God's Spirit is the means of our faith, regeneration, and growth in grace (Romans 10:17; John 3:8; 2 Timothy 3:16–17). It is through the preaching of the gospel and the power of the Spirit that God moves most powerfully in our lives to save us (Romans 1:16). It is by His Word and Spirit that we are called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and will one day be glorified (Romans 8:15; Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 6:11).
God's hand is also at work in the trials, temptations, and hardships of our lives (James 1:2–4). He uses these difficulties as a refiner of gold uses a furnace, to remove impurities (1 Peter 1:6–7). In love, God disciplines His children in order to bring about their holiness (Hebrews 12:6–11). God afflicts us so that we will learn His ways and learn to depend on Him (Psalm 119:67), our ultimate good.
The following hymn, How Firm a Foundation, Ye Saints of the Lord, is a beautiful reminder of how God's hand moves in the life of a believer:
"How firm a foundation you saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!
What more can he say than to you he has said,
to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
Fear not, I am with you, O be not dismayed,
for I am your God, and will still give you aid;
I'll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand, upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call you to go,
the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow,
for I will be with you in trouble to bless,
and sanctify to you your deepest distress.
When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie,
my grace all-sufficient shall be your supply;
the flame shall not hurt you; I only design
your dross to consume and your gold to refine.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no, never, no never forsake!"
In summary, we can see God's hand moving in our lives when the Spirit of God opens our hearts and minds to the truth of His Word. We can see God's hand in His providential blessings, including the deep waters of sorrow and the fiery trials of affliction. Ultimately, we can see God's hand moving most clearly when we see His Son, Jesus Christ, who has been revealed to those who love God. For, it is Jesus Christ who is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature (Hebrews 1:3), and it is through Jesus that God speaks to us today (Hebrews 1:2).
How can I know whether God is telling me to do something?
Why does obedience to God matter?
What is it to abide in Christ? What does it mean to abide in Christ?
Why is it that God sometimes seems silent or absent in the life of a believer?
How can I trust that God really is in control? Is God in control?
Truth about the Christian Life
