An Unbreakable Chain

In Isaiah 41:10, God is telling His believers “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.  Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you.  I will help you.  I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” 

magazinecoverings.com

When everything here on earth is going haywire, these words bring a great deal of comfort and hope. To know that God is indeed “with me” every day, and that He’ll never abandon me when the road gets rocky.  That inspires real confidence in my steps.

But what is the significance of God’s “victorious right hand?”  Why his right hand?

In Hebrews 8:1 and Mark 16:19, these words once again reverberated the importance of this right-hand position.  It’s a position of honor and power.

“HERE IS THE MAIN POINT: Our High Priest sat down in the

place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand.” 

Hebrews 8:1

“WHEN THE LORD JESUS has finished talking to them, he was

taken up into heaven and sat down in his place of honor

at God’s right hand.” 

Mark 16:19

Have you ever thought about the reason Jesus sat on God’s right side; the side next to the righteous and victorious right hand of God?  Someone once told me that the right hand is the hand of power, so this was not a surprise to me.  But I was so excited to read in Isaiah that we are also so honored when God uses this powerful and honored right hand to "hold us up."

Just imagine that for a minute. God used this hand to create the earth and the mountains, the animals and the seas. He uses this same hand of omnipotent power to get us through life. No one can beat that!  It is humbling to think that He cares about you and I so much that He uses only the best, most honored hand to guide us through life. 

I always have this mental image of Christ and me walking side by side through life.  But after re-reading this passage in Isaiah, I will always envision Christ on my left side, with His strong and comforting right arm firmly grasping my shoulders.  From God to Christ to me - locking arms and taking on life on earth like an unbreakable wall. 

I was lost in this image, when I suddenly thought, “To whom will I offer my right hand?”  Now I recognize that when God tells me to love my neighbor as myself, He is challenging me to give others the best of me, not the second best. Offer those I meet MY right hand and honor them as God does for me.  What a privilege that God uses us to keep adding to that unbreakable chain. 

Who will you honor with your right hand today?