Touch of His Hand

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4

God loves you.

Sometimes that’s hard to see, let alone accept, because all we can see is our transgressions. Our mess-ups. The blackness that coats our lives, and we begin to believe we are unlovable. We have no qualities that deserve love, and we definitely have not made choices that would earn it.

Except God never asked for us to earn his love, only to accept it.

His love is great. It is massive. Beyond our ability to outrun it or escape it. And it’s freely given. He loves you simply because he created you. He loves you because he values you. He loves you because he knows your incomparable worth.

God doesn’t see your black smudges, he sees you. And you are enough. His great love is waiting to envelope you, to touch those areas where we’ve made mistakes, those areas that feel unforgiveable and unchangeable, and cover them with his grace.

Read that verse again. God reached for us even when we were dead in our transgressions. In other words, he saw our mess and sought us out anyway. He didn’t wait for us to dust off and fix ourselves up, didn’t ask for us to be perfect before we came to him…no, he reached for us when we were still in the mud pit.

Why would someone do that?

Because he saw our worth.

It reminds me of an old story, an old poem really that was once turned into a song. It’s about an old, dusty violin sitting at an auction. As the auction begins the auctioneer is trying to get buyers to even bid a dollar for it. He continues in his pressing for bids until an elderly gentleman makes his way to the front. The man picks up the violin and begins to play it. Music like never before cascades from the violin, sweet and brilliant. When he finishes, the hushed crowd watches him place the violin down and walk away. Now the crowd, who has seen the true worth of this violin and all it can do underneath its knicks and scars, begins to bid in the thousands.

All because of the touch of the master’s hands.

And that’s exactly what God does for us. He sees us through our dusty, worn layers. He seeks us out. He shows our beauty through his touch in our lives, through how he uses us for his glory to be seen. He makes us worth so much more than we’d ever be apart from him.

With just one touch of his hands. Let him bring you into his today.

Lord, today we pray to see your hand in our lives. Help us to see and hear the way you want to use us to shine your glory. Help us to see beyond our past, our dust, our mess-ups, to find our talents in you. Let us discover our true worth as we are molded in your hands. Most of all, let us feel your all-encompassing love for us today. In you name, amen.