BY WALT ALBRITTON
OPINION —
The word “hand” can be found 1500 times in the Bible. When Cain killed Abel, the ground opened to receive Abel’s blood “from the hand” of his brother.
Moses took the staff of God in his hand. When Moses’ hands grew tired, Aaron and Hur held up his hands.
Even though the Bible teaches that God is a spirit, it also speaks figuratively of God’s “hand.” The “right hand” of the Lord is “majestic in power.” The Lord God “stretched out his hand” many times against the enemies of Israel. Isaiah heard the Lord say that he would strengthen and help him with his “righteous right hand.”
Jesus spoke of the hands of his Father. Dying on the cross, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” The early church grew, Doctor Luke tells us in the Acts of the Apostles, because “the Lord’s hand was with them.”
Several hymns and songs help us praise God for the blessings of his hands. One hymn comes to mind: “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” My soul rejoices every time I sing the words, “Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed Thy hand hath provided; great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.” Eight of those words make me feel like shouting: “All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided!” Glory!
Who is not blessed by the singing of “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”? Or “Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee.”
A song that always thrills my soul is “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.” It’s a song that reminds us that in hard times we can find comfort by praying, “Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.” But while that is true, I believe the Lord will be pleased if we tweak the song a little and say, “Precious Lord, use my hands — to bless others.”
In every culture, for centuries, placing one’s hand on the head of another person has been a sign of blessing. The Hebrew word for “to consecrate” means literally “to fill the hand,” intimating that without consecration we have little to offer God. When bishops ordain elders in the church, they place their hands on the heads of the elders while praying prayers of consecration. When my young sons fell asleep in their beds at night, I would often kneel beside and pray aloud a prayer of blessing for them with my hands resting gently on their heads.
Love is expressed by the simple gesture of holding hands. During my childhood at mealtimes my dad asked us to hold hands while he offered a brief prayer for our food. It was a special moment for me as a teenager when I finally dared to hold Dean’s hand when we were dating. Years later, when our young son Steve was facing surgery, he asked me to hold his hand. When a loved one is dying, and words are stuck in our throat, we express our love by holding hands.
When Jesus was healing the sick, he often “laid his hand” on them as he healed them. Mothers brought their babies to Jesus, asking him to place his hands on them. In a synagogue, Jesus encountered a man with a withered hand. Jesus told the man to stretch out his hand, and his hand was healed.
Hands can be useful or useless. When they are idle, they become “the devil’s workshop.” Hands can be used for purposes that are loving or harmful. The man whose withered hand Jesus healed could thereafter use his hand to bless others. Dedicated to Jesus, our hands may become tools of blessing.
When I was knocking on death’s door because of an embolism, caring doctors and nurses used their hands to treat and comfort me. Too weak to wipe my own brow, I found the tender caress of a kind nurse made me glad to be alive. Because of nurses I have known, I never tire of singing the praises of nurses. They are the unsung heroes of our society — because their hands make a difference.
Everywhere you can see consecrated hands blessing others: using chain saws following tornado damage; preparing food for the elderly and the poor; sewing dresses for poor children in third world countries; preparing worship videos for the homebound; working in a church garden to grow vegetables that will be given to the hungry; visiting the sick; comforting friends who are struggling with grief — hands at work honoring Jesus!
When a friend was suffering with a fatal illness, his friend John went to his home and rubbed his back and legs several times. John was a trained nurse who knew how to use his hands to comfort a dying friend.
Helen Keller was liberated from blindness by a dedicated caregiver. Describing her rescue some years later, Keller wrote: “I was groping in darkness, like a ship lost at sea. One day I stretched out my hand and someone took it — someone who would teach me all things, but more than that, would love me.” Helen’s life was changed because Ann Sullivan took her hand.
An American tourist, visiting the missionary Albert Schweitzer at his hospital in Africa, was surprised to see the famous doctor using a wheelbarrow. “Sir,” he asked Schweitzer, “how is it that you are pushing a wheelbarrow?” The good doctor calmly replied, “With two hands.”
There are hundreds of ways hands can be used. You can applaud others for what they are doing — while you sit on your own hands. You can raise your hands to protest the words or actions of others. You can use your hands to hurt people or help people. You can observe creative ways others are using their hands and offer to join them. My oldest son, Matt, spent 10 years in the Navy. On board his ships he often heard the commanding officer say: “All hands on Deck!” Now as a pastor, Matt sometimes tell his congregation, “We need all hands on deck to complete the mission at hand.”
If we are willing to shut out the noise of our broken world, we just might hear Jesus saying, “All hands on deck! I want to use your hands to show people how much my Father loves them.”
You can only imagine how Jesus would change your life if you responded to his call by saying, “Precious Lord, use my hands in ways that honor you.”