“I am the Lord, your God, who grasps your right hand. It is I who says to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’” –Is 41:13
We have all known times in which we have been struck powerless, needing the aid of a helping hand. Today’s reading from Isaiah reminds us that whether we realize it or not, we are all dependent upon the strength of God.
Many years ago while walking home from work, I stumbled and injured my ankle. I struggled to bring myself up to my feet, but I couldn’t bear any weight at all. I sat there on the pavement for some time in pain and loneliness, wondering how to get myself home, when I no longer had the power to walk. People and cars passed by, and a couple paused to ask if I were alright. In my pride and perhaps embarrassment, I politely assured them I was fine, thinking I could manage this on my own. At length, I decided to crawl home. It was surely a pathetic sight. I made it home, clambering onto my bed. That evening I experienced quite strongly the reality of my powerlessness. I could do nothing on my own. How much I needed a strong hand to help me!
I was reminded of this while reading through today’s passage from Isaiah. The mention of God as grasping our “right hand” offers a revealing glimpse into how He makes himself present to us in the walk of life. At first, one might consider this a hand of accompaniment. Perhaps He is walking with us in easy friendship. Yet when we look a few verses above, we find an illuminating detail to the picture: “I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Is. 14:10).
How does God hold our right hand with His “victorious right hand”? How does anyone hold our right hand with his own? There is only one way: the helping person must hold the person up, supporting him with his body and wrapping his right arm around the other’s. Thus, this is not a picture of simple accompaniment, but of the total giving of strength to one who has none. It is the strength I needed when I found myself on the ground those years ago with a fractured ankle, unable to walk.
The fact is that in order to receive a strong helping hand, we have to first accept our own powerlessness. No one can help us unless we allow them to, and most of us would rather rely on our own perceived strength than admit our weakness.
With God, the invitation is far more dramatic; there is no halfway with Him. He calls us not simply to walk with Him hand in hand, but to entrust ourselves completely to His strength, as we give ourselves over to His “victorious right hand.” It is the only way out. Knowing our nature of proud mistrust, He urges us to trust Him, commanding us, Do not fear. Only then, in that strange paradox of surrender, are we given a strength and valor far surpassing anything we could muster on our own. Let us remember this call during the season of Advent, as we allow ourselves to wait for the coming of the Lord. May we each cast aside fear and place ourselves wholly in the strength of our God, who holds us up with His right hand.
Wow, Dr. Sharda, thanks for your reflection. It truly takes humility to accept a helping hand. God
is always there but so often we are too embarrassed to ask Him for help.