They may be clean, dirty, soft, rough, well manicured, cracked, newborn, wrinkled, still, shaking, straight, bent, full, or empty. We may have two, or have none at all. We can even talk with them. How cool is that? Observe your own hands and tell me what you see. Do you picture careers, age, illness, injuries, or other hands they have held? They may not work like they used to, but they sure tell a story.
Our hands must fulfill a purpose before they can tell a story. We do not always know what to do with them. We find this out when trying to stand still and wait which can be awkward. Do we cross our arms, hold them, put them behind our backs, or wave them like we just don’t care? Why is it so complicated?
We complicate life even further by using our hands in terrible ways, and many examples are written in the Bible. Eve grabbing forbidden fruit, Cain killing Abel, the building of false gods, and Joseph’s own brothers selling him into slavery are all cases found in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. Turn on the news today and you will still see countless stories of sins like murder, slavery, and thievery. Our hands can hurt others and ourselves. Thankfully they may be used for more than sin.
Gratefully our hands are capable of doing so much good in such a broken world. Genesis also gives amazing accounts of the good hands can do. God formed man and woman, Noah built the ark, and Joseph was able to save many lives, including his brothers’, during a famine by overseeing the collection and distribution of food.
We may thinkof the fact that we are not Biblical heroes. What good are we capable of doing in this broken world? That answer is determined by our hearts. When we have the love that only comes from God, then He is able to use our hands for His will. God has uniquely made each of us and continues to shape our passions. This allows His love to be reflected in and through our lives in ways we would never be able to do on our own. Our passions become our mission. We are called to go into all the world and be the hands of Jesus. Our mission is to take care of orphans and widows, to feed the hungry, to share the hope that Jesus gives everyone, and to love people all over the world. God reveals His mission for us through studying the Bible and through intentional, listening prayer. He wants to use our hands to bring broken people into His loving grace.
Even though our hands may not work as well as they used to God still wants to use their stories to heal a lot of hurt and to serve those who need help. In response to God’s mercy and love let us put our hands together and give Him our praise for everything that He has done and will continue to do in us and in the world.
Write in the comments below how God has used your hands for His purposes. I would love to know how I can pray for you as well. Feel free to share any requests and praises you have.
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