In the Hands of God

Mormon wrote this to us in our day: “And then, O ye Gentiles, how can ye stand before the power of God, except ye shall repent and turn from your evil ways? Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power, and at his great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll? Therefore, repent ye, and humble yourselves before him, lest he shall come out in justice against you” (Mormon 5:22-24). I was struck by his second question which asserts that we are in the hands of God. In the context of what he was writing, he seems to have been speaking to the wicked, those who need to repent and humble themselves before Him. He wanted the Gentiles in the last days, especially those who rejected the word of God, to know that they were still in the hands of God and that He could come out in justice against them. A footnote for this verse points to this statement about the Jaredites: “And now I, Moroni, proceed to give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of this north country” (Ether 1:1). They were ultimately destroyed by the hand of the Lord because of their terrible wickedness. This verse also has this cross reference from modern revelation: “And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations” (Doctrine and Covenants 87:6). That is a sobering statement and suggests that God’s hand will chasten the wicked. We are all in His hands, and the wicked will certainly not rejoice in that fact, for they will feel His wrath and indignation and chastisement if they do not repent.

            That said, I think we can also find great comfort in Mormon’s question if we are striving to repent and come unto Him: “Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God?” We can trust that we are in His hands and that He will guide our lives. Isaiah gave us these words of the Savior: “For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me” (1 Nephi 21:15-16). He has graven us on the palms of His hands when the nails were driven through them as a part of His great atoning sacrifice, and so in a more literal sense we are in His hands. When He looks at His hands, He sees us because the marks in His hands still remind Him of us. What He said to Thomas surely He would say to us as well: “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing” (John 20:27). We may not be able to do that literally, but we can behold His hands spiritually and know that He will continue to guide our lives. I love the invitation He gave us in this dispensation: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:36-37). We can spiritually behold the wounds in his hands and look to Him in every thought, for we are in His hands. Elder W. Craig Zwick taught that “to be in the hands of God would suggest that we are not only under His watchful care but also that we are guarded and protected by His wondrous power. Throughout the scriptures, reference is made to the hand of the Lord. His divine assistance is evidenced over and over again. His powerful hands created worlds, and yet they were gentle enough to bless the little children.” If we have rejected Him and His commandments, His hands will one day mete out justice’s recompense. But if repent and humble ourselves before Him, we can trust that His hands will watch over, protect, bless, and strengthen us in all our mortal challenges.