I love picturing God stretching out His hand. You see that phrase repeated so often in scripture. You also see the idea of God taking people “by the hand.” Can you imagine? When Jesus raised the young girl to life in Matthew 9:25, we read how He “took the girl by the hand.” Jesus leads a blind man “by the hand” (Mark 8:23); He takes a demon-delivered boy “by the hand” (Mark 9:27). I love the tenderness of it. I love the strength of it. But perhaps my favorite moment of Jesus reaching out His hand involves Peter. Peter walks out on the water to join Jesus in Matthew 14. We read this:
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
I spent some time trying to picture this scene. I found a beautiful painting by Youngsung Kim called “The Hand of God.” You can see the image here: