Your Hands Speak
For many different reasons, Psalm 145 has been on my mind recently. In reading the Psalm this past week, verse 16 stood out to me, “You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.” There wasn’t anything “super special” about this verse particularly, but it made me begin to think about all the times we see God’s hands or Jesus' hands in the Scriptures.
I began talking to my eight-year-old son about the idea of how we see God’s hands “speak” in the Bible. He asked, “What do you mean, God’s hands speak?” I then gladly took the teaching moment to talk about and explain how our actions can communicate. That our actions, as some say, can speak louder than words. This is not to say as believers we don’t need to speak the good news of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection to others, but as Matthew 5:16 says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” or as in James chapter 2, “I will show you my faith by my works.” Our actions do communicate, and back up or disprove, what we say we believe.
This thought led me to think about all the different times God the Father and Jesus communicated with their hands. In the Psalm 145 passage, we see God’s open hand satisfies. In Genesis chapter 2, while it doesn’t specifically say God used his hands, it says God formed man from the dust of the ground and he took a rib and formed Eve, meaning God carefully crafted mankind. In Isaiah 41 God holds the right hand of his children to calm their fear.
Jumping to the New Testament we see Jesus using his hands to heal, use his hands to break the bread, and provide food to satisfy the hunger of the multitude. Jesus reached out to Peter as Peter’s fear overcame his faith and Jesus lifted him back to safety. Jesus used his hands to wash the disciples' feet speaking humility and service. Jesus let his hands be bound so mine could go free. Jesus let his hands be nailed to a cross to accomplish the will of the Father, His hands spoke obedience to the Father and at the same time sacrificial, unconditional love for me. Jesus used his hands to calm doubts in Thomas as he held them out for Thomas to touch. John sees Jesus, in Revelation 1, holding seven stars in his right hand communicating his authority over the angels or messengers of the church and then in the very next verse as John falls before Jesus as if he had died, Jesus reaches out to John and touches him and says “Fear not.”
There are many more Old Testament and New Testament examples of God’s hands speaking but I wonder- what do my hands communicate now, and what will my hands communicate in the future? Will I follow Christ's example and use my hands to serve others? Will I lift them in praise as David did? Will I use them to write notes of encouragement? Will I use my hands to embrace those who are hurting? Will I use them to work, to provide for my family and church?
God’s hands speak throughout the Bible. What do my hands say?
I began talking to my eight-year-old son about the idea of how we see God’s hands “speak” in the Bible. He asked, “What do you mean, God’s hands speak?” I then gladly took the teaching moment to talk about and explain how our actions can communicate. That our actions, as some say, can speak louder than words. This is not to say as believers we don’t need to speak the good news of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection to others, but as Matthew 5:16 says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” or as in James chapter 2, “I will show you my faith by my works.” Our actions do communicate, and back up or disprove, what we say we believe.
This thought led me to think about all the different times God the Father and Jesus communicated with their hands. In the Psalm 145 passage, we see God’s open hand satisfies. In Genesis chapter 2, while it doesn’t specifically say God used his hands, it says God formed man from the dust of the ground and he took a rib and formed Eve, meaning God carefully crafted mankind. In Isaiah 41 God holds the right hand of his children to calm their fear.
Jumping to the New Testament we see Jesus using his hands to heal, use his hands to break the bread, and provide food to satisfy the hunger of the multitude. Jesus reached out to Peter as Peter’s fear overcame his faith and Jesus lifted him back to safety. Jesus used his hands to wash the disciples' feet speaking humility and service. Jesus let his hands be bound so mine could go free. Jesus let his hands be nailed to a cross to accomplish the will of the Father, His hands spoke obedience to the Father and at the same time sacrificial, unconditional love for me. Jesus used his hands to calm doubts in Thomas as he held them out for Thomas to touch. John sees Jesus, in Revelation 1, holding seven stars in his right hand communicating his authority over the angels or messengers of the church and then in the very next verse as John falls before Jesus as if he had died, Jesus reaches out to John and touches him and says “Fear not.”
There are many more Old Testament and New Testament examples of God’s hands speaking but I wonder- what do my hands communicate now, and what will my hands communicate in the future? Will I follow Christ's example and use my hands to serve others? Will I lift them in praise as David did? Will I use them to write notes of encouragement? Will I use my hands to embrace those who are hurting? Will I use them to work, to provide for my family and church?
God’s hands speak throughout the Bible. What do my hands say?
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