Hands?

Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with this measure you use, it will be measured to you.  Luke 6:38

Hands – So much of our life, of our living is carried out through our hands.  Have you ever really thought about what you would do without your hands?  You couldn’t do the simple things we all take for granted like brush your teeth, pick up a glass and take a drink, push your daughter in the swing.  You also couldn’t wipe a child’s tears away, hold a trembling hand, strum guitar strings or play chords on a piano. I believe that God gave us hands to be used for more than just tools to help us with all the necessities of life.  He meant our hands to be tools of ministry as well.

Grandma’s Hands - I met a woman this weekend who said she had played the piano in church for 69 years.  69 years!  Her father paid for her piano lessons when they barely had enough money to get by because he told her that playing the piano was something she could always do for God, no matter what her age.  And he was right.  He got a good return for the training he provided for his daughter and her hands.  It made me think of hands – I can still see my grandmothers bent and arthritis ridden hands wiping the counter in her kitchen or preparing food for us to eat.  I used to think of the history behind the wrinkles.  How many meals had she prepared over her lifetime?  How many diapers had she changed and how many noses had she wiped?  What kind of history of ministry did she carry in the palms of her hands?   What kind of stories will your hands be able to tell at the end of your life?

Baby’s Hands – The other extreme, the beginning of the spectrum.  A baby’s hands are so new, so undisturbed.  They are the perfect replica of an adult hand when they are first born but without the dirt under the nails and the cuts and scrapes on their fingers.  They can’t use their hands to do anything for a while, not even put them in their mouth to suck on.  Before long they begin to use them to explore the world around them.  They use their other senses too but the use of their hands is really their first adventure with large motor skills.  They begin to grasp and feel and then they move objects from one place to another, mainly to their mouth!  What are the plans God has for these tiny, perfect hands?  Who will they comfort?  Who will they lead?  Who will they protect?  Who will they hold?  Don’t forget to pray for your children. 

Healing Hands – One purpose I believe that God intended when he created our hands was to use them to heal.  Sometimes all the healing a person needs is a simple touch.  Other times it requires an educated and well-schooled touch with many years of experience to heal.  God has given us all gifts and talents and being a doctor or nurse is most assuredly a gift from God.  He calls us all to be different things.  Those who are healers have great responsibility resting in the palm of their hands along with great opportunity for ministry.

Mother’s Hands – One word comes to mind: nurture.  Nurturing may be the single most important job of a mother’s hands, for no one can nurture the same as a mother.  Fathers nurture too but it is different.  Mother’s hands love and give away more than they take.  Mother’s hands may get tired, but they never stop working.  A mother’s hands may get old but the impact lasts a lifetime.  Mothers – consider your hands and all they do.  Remember that everything you do has a lasting effect on those around you.  Ask God to lead you every day, in every way.

There are so many other ways God intended for us to use our hands. I could go on and on – Protecting Hands, Teaching Hands, Giving Hands, Praying Hands and many more.  Some of us use our hands for many different things.  How about using them to praise God?  He deserves our praises and it is such a freeing experience to lift hands high in worship to the God who made them.  It is an offering of praise, an expression of gratitude and a feeling of the amazing power and majesty of the Almighty One, the one who can create tiny fingers on tiny hands to be used in giant ways.  Think about your hands.  Think about what you are doing with them.  They can tear down unfortunately as well as build up.  Be mindful and pray.  Seek God’s direction and look at your hands for all the different things they are.  God has plans for your hands! 

Scripture to Claim:
Behold, bless the LORD, all servants of the LORD, Who serve by night in the house of the LORD! Lift up your hands to the sanctuary And bless the LORD. May the LORD bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth.  Psalm 134:1-3