This idea of living my life with my palms up has been foremost in my mind for quite some time now. When you place your hands open physically it puts you in a place to give and to receive. It’s the same thing with our lives.
It’s a vulnerable place to be, but it’s also such a freeing place. The practice of living a life where God is free to take things but where you’re also in a place to receive what He desires to give you is huge to me. It can be crazy scary. It’s basically saying, “Here God. I trust You to do whatever You want with my life. I desire all of the good things that You so desperately want me to receive, but I’ll also let you take away whatever’s hindering my walk with you – even if some of those thing are things that I love and am clinging tightly too.”
Palms up when I pray. Here’s what I’ve got Father. What do you want to lovingly take from me? What is weighing me down? What do I need to give up? What do You want to fill me up with today? What gifts do You desire me to receive?
Palms up with relationships that I value or relationships that I desire but don’t necessarily have. I want things the way that I want them, but I also want God,s best for my life.
Palms up about jobs and places to live and future plans. Do I clench my fists or loosen my grip and let go of my perceived control over life. Do I cling to anxiety, or do I give it Jesus and receive peace from Him in return?
It’s such a struggle, such a love/hate relationship. It’s a full on battle of flesh vs. the Spirit. I lose the battle many, many days, but there is still hope. That’s one of the wonderful things about Jesus. There is always, always, always hope. He’s the best at giving us second and third and fourth and 146and 289 chances. He’s the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The ultimate Forgiver and Redeemer. He’s the only one that can give us back things that we lose.
We can give him our shame and He’ll give us holiness. (I Peter 2:5-6),
We can give him our dirty rags and He’ll clothe us with purity. (I John 1:8-9)
We can give Him our suffering and He’ll restore us and make us strong. (I Peter 5:9-10)
We can give Him our jealousy and hatred and He’ll give us His love for people. (Galatians 5)
We can give Him our “wasted” years and He’ll show us where He was faithful even we couldn’t see a glimpse of Him. (Ephesians 1:11-12)
We can give him our loneliness and He’l provide a family for us. (Psalm 68:6)
We can give Him our sorrow and He’ll give us healing us in return. (Isaiah 53:3-5)
We can give Him our tears and He’ll give us a new song! (Psalm 126:4-6)
We can give Him our condemnation and He’ll give us justification. (Romans 5:18)
We can give him the things that we’re slaves to, in bondage to, and He’ll give us FREEDOM. (Galatians 5:1)
We can give Him our dead, messed up life and He’ll give us a brand new life! (Romans 6:8-11)
Are you beginning to see the picture?
It’s somewhat like standing naked in a public arena. Vulnerable. Exposed. Not sure what to do.
But to get from point A to point B there has to be that step of faith, that act of obedience and surrender to something, someone greater than ourselves. First off, we must have a personal relationship with Jesus. That’s how we get this new, abundant, freeing life. The rest is just a continual walk of love and faith and freedom.
I struggle so much with this! But why WOULDN’T I want it? I can give God all of the negative, all of the pain, all of the baggage in my life, and in return He’ll give me freedom and abundant life. Wait. What?! It doesn’t make sense on human terms, but when you look at what Scripture says it’ll all right there in black and white and red.
It hinges on truly loving God and completely trusting Him. Do I actually believe, believe in the sense that I live it out, that God is exactly who He says He is? Because if I did, then I’d have no problems with this lifestyle.
Palms up, folks. That’s the way we’ve gotta do this thing called life. It’s scary. It’s hard. It’s FREEING. It’s a giving up of expectations and perceived rights and living in this unbelievable security and peace that we couldn’t manufacture on our own. It’s a life full of eager expectation and adventure and FULLNESS.
