Hands

Have you ever looked at your hands?
Open your hands and look at them. Turn them over, palms up and then palms down.

Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, how they have served you well throughout your years. Those hands, though wrinkled, shriveled and weak have been the tools you have used all your life to reach out and grab and embrace life. They braced and caught your fall when as a toddler you crashed upon the floor. They put food in your mouth and clothes on your back. As a child your mother taught you to fold them in prayer. They tied your shoes and pulled on your boots. They dried the tears of your children and caressed the love of your life. They held your rifle and wiped your tears when you went off to war. They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent. They were uneasy and clumsy when you tried to hold your newborn child. Decorated with your wedding band they showed the world that you were married and loved someone special. They wrote the letters home and trembled and shook when you buried your loved ones and walked your daughter down the aisle. Yet, they were strong and sure when you dug your buddy out of a foxhole or lifted a plow off of your best friends foot. They have held children, consoled neighbors, and shook in fists of anger when you didn't understand. They have covered your face, combed your hair, and washed and cleansed the rest of your body. They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken, dried and raw. And to this day when not much of anything else of you works real well your hands hold you up, lay you down, and again continue to fold in prayer. Your hands are the mark of where you've been and the ruggedness of your life. But more importantly it will be your hands that God will reach out and take when He leads you home. And He won't care about where your hands have been or what they have done. What He will care about is to whom those hands belong and how much He loves those hands. And with those hands He will lift you to His side and there you will use those hands to touch the face of Christ.

No doubt you  will never look at your hands the same again. So when your hands are hurt or sore or when you stroke the face of your children or wife thank the Almighty. I, too, want to touch the face of God and feel his hands upon my face. Thank you, Father God, for hands.