Woke up this morning thinking about the right hand of God.  Nope.  No tequila last night.  Just one of those moments.  

I have read through the scriptures many times, but never have I ever seen mentioned the left hand of God.  Yes, the hands of God are mentioned, but never the left hand of God.

Is God right handed?  Sorry, my lovely lefties.

I have been fascinated with this right hand phenom for 25+ years.  I even have Bibles with RH, RH, RH, RH inserted in the margins throughout.  Several times I thought about researching this right handed thingy and writing a book or something about it, but life always interrupted until I encountered yet another right hand.

So, what is this thing with God's right hand?

Throughout scripture we see reference upon reference about His mighty right hand (and arm).  We see this right hand dole out mercy after mercy after mercy.  We also see it deliver judgment and punishment.  Furthermore, we also discover that Jesus sits at the right hand of God Almighty, so maybe the right side stands for divine authority over ALL.

There is a passage in the Old Testament that describes the initiation ceremony of the early priests.  In these first priests, the ceremony involved an anointing section.  In this ceremony, the priests were anointed on their right ear lobe, right thumb/hand, and right toe/foot.  I understand the symbolism: anointing their hearing, their doing, and their going.  But why not the whole body?  Later the anointing involved pouring the oil on the head and letting it flow over the whole body.  If I'm going to be anointed, let me be like Peter and cry out for more - "not just my feet, Lord."  Why not all of me?

FYI:  When I began praying for people a long time ago, (you know, touching them with my hand) I noticed that my right hand vibrated and trembled, not the left.  I've experimented many times, but my left hand just did not feel God's power like my right.  So what's up with that?  Only God knows.  I love the mystery of it all.

So how did my fascination with God's righthandedness begin?

Well, to begin we'll have to start with the end . . . of the Bible - Revelation.  There we'll find perhaps one of the most beautiful references about God's right hand.

John was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and for his testimony about Jesus.  While worshiping one day, he had a vision of Jesus, a revelation.

I saw seven gold lampstands. And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man.  He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across His chest.  His head and His hair were white like wool, as white as snow.  And His eyes were like flames of fire.  His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice thundered like mighty ocean waves.  He held seven stars in His RIGHT HAND, and a sharp two-edged sword came from His mouth.  His face was like the sun in all its brilliance.

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if I were dead.  [Here's the good part.]  But He laid His RIGHT HAND on me and said, "Don't be afraid!  I am the First and the Last.  I am the living one.  I died, but look - I am alive forever and ever!  And I hold the keys of death and the grave.

If God, the Son, Jesus, were holding these stars in His RIGHT HAND, then what did Jesus have to do to comfort John?  Yep, lay down the stars.  

Jesus laid down these stars which weren't just ordinary stars and took the hand He had used to hold these stars and touched John.  Wow!  "Don't be afraid!"

How many times has Jesus done just this for me?  I cannot count the times, maybe even more than once a day.  How many times has He whispered to my heart, "Don't be afraid!  I am the Living One.  I hold it all in my hands [my mighty right hand]."

This is a beautiful story of hope in the midst of the whatevers of life.  John's whatever was being exiled on an island.  My whatevers have been numerous and varied.  However, God, the Holy Son, Jesus never fails to come and whisper those sweet words to my trembling heart.

This is why I am fascinated with the mighty right hand of God. 

P.S. Guess what showed up in my devotional reading this morning AFTER I had written this.  Yep, the right hand of God.  God and I had a good chuckle.