Monday, November 7, 2011

What's in your hands?


God did not send a laser from the heavens to carve his words on our planet. He could have. Instead, he revealed his word to man and used the hearts, minds and hands of humanity to communicate his message. I don't often reflect on that when I'm reading the Bible, do you?

Last weekend, as I read Ephesians 3 in the Message Bible I felt a new connection with the author. Not THE Author, but the man who held the reed pen in his hands.

7-8This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God's way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.

I felt a camaraderie with Paul as a writer. Could this be part of MY life work? I share his desire to spread the Message, and I am challenged to trust God to equip me. I also identify with his feelings of inadequacy. I really love the part about God handling all the details!

When I was a child, a travelling minister visited our church. After the service, he prayed for me and said something about God using my hands. My mom often reminds me of his words. Would God use my hands as a pianist? Would it be as a biomedical research assistant? Or could it be in the words I type as my hands cradle a keyboard?

What's in your hands? What is your reed pen?

How do you see God handling the details?


4 comments:

Rhonda A. said...

Beautiful. Hands. What are my hands for? Cradling a baby? High-fiving a child? Putting a band-aid on an owie? Typing essays with my High Schooler? Carassing my husband? ALL OF THE ABOVE! Our hands do the work of the Lord for the Lord. Hands. His Hands holding our Hands as we show His Love. A wonderful thought to relect upon today. Blessings!

Lynn Marie Cherry said...

Rhonda, thank you so much for sharing...your hands are so important!

Heather Frierson said...

God is definitely using your hands to write words of encouragement as well as challenging to make us all look inside. You are truly spreading the message!

Lynn Marie Cherry said...

Thank you Heather!