Lately I have noticed the neatly manicured nails of beautiful women I see at the banks and stores. Their perfect nails colored in vibrant hues of pink and red and violet, beg my question.
“How do they do it?” I wonder.
A few weeks ago, my daughter and I sat down at the dining room table. Reluctantly, I consented to painting her nails. Stroke after stroke of coral on her ten tiny fingers. Feeling ambitious and with her insistence, I painted mine as well. We sat there at the table gently blowing on our fingers.
My polish didn’t survive 24 hours. Staring at my chipped nails in disgust, I reached for the acetone and removed all hint of color: naked nails for working hands.
The human hand is a marvelous creation. 29 bones, 9 major joints, 48 nerves and 123 ligaments are skillfully woven together enabling baseball player Aroldis Chapman to heave a pitch at a staggering 105mph. The same materials that produce such power and force can operate with enough precision to actually paint a picture on a grain rice. If you have not seen these tiny works of art, you have to google them sometime. I’m certain you’ll be amazed by the sheer wonder of such a minute masterpiece.
The
hand also provides a unique form of identification. Tiny swirls twist
and turn like windy roads on a map to create a one-of-a-kind stamp we
call a fingerprint. The palm of the hand with all of its wrinkles and
creases is tough and durable, yet strangely sensitive.
I
stare at my wrinkly, dry hands that bear 30 years of tiny scars from my
busywork. It’s doubtful they’ll ever look like the perfect fingers I
see in magazines. They are short workers constantly on duty. They
remove splinters and clean scraped knees. They rest on a forehead to
measure temperature and wipe little noses that run. They chop onions
and knead dough. They type and paint and fix and scold and they hold the
hand of a loving man whose affection I don’t deserve.
Index finger has pointed under hundreds of words, slowly moving, letter
by letter, as tiny lips decode the sounds into intelligible language. Who knows how
many pinky promises my little finger made as a child? Ring finger has
worn a golden band for nearly 12 years. Then holding it all together,
often offering an encouraging “thumbs up” is my short, stout thumb on the end.
Holy
scripture has a lot of say about hands. Hands clapping. Hands
praising. Hands working. Hands laying. Hands spinning. Hands rinsing.
Hands lifting. Hands striking. Hands delivering. Hands producing.
Hands making. Hands harvesting. Hands fulfilling.
I
love what Nehemiah said about hands. He had a job. Nehamiah was
rebuilding a sacred wall torn down by adversaries. Words of ridicule
and opposition were shot at him like evil darts of an enemy.
His response is recorded in Nehemiah 6:8-10 (NIV)
They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.”
But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.”
Strengthen
my hands. Strengthen my hands. Strengthen my hands. I murmur the
words to myself imagining the urgency and fervor with which Nehemiah
must have prayed them. Desperate to see the job done right and done
well. Longing for his hands to finish what they started, he prayed. I
get that. Something deep inside of me wants to see the job done, but I
get tired. Can I pray like Nehemiah? Can I trust God to strengthen
me for the task at hand?
The unique fingerprint testifies to the unique task each hand is equipped to do. God designed your hand to build something that only you can build. There is work only your hands can do.
Maybe your hands are like mine, tired and sore from their daily routines. Or perhaps you just treated your hands to a manicure and they rest on your lap with colorful, glistening veneers. Regardless, tiny swirls masterfully designed by the Creator, barely visible and rarely noticed cry out. They whisper God’s special plan for you, for your hands. Seek Him to discover what your hands were designed to do. Then, cry out like the Psalmist in Psalm 90:17:
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.
God will strengthen our hands. God will establish the work of our hands. Here’s the best part. Our hands bring us rewards.
Proverbs 12:14 From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the
God strengthens our hands. God establishes the work of our hands and God brings us rewards from the work of our hands. Nothing our hands do go unnoticed. As we live out Colossians 3:23 and do all things as though we were doing it for Jesus himself, we receive rewards: both on earth and in heaven.
In Proverbs, we read of a woman who was diligent in working with her hands whether for buisness or charity. The Bible says:
Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate. Proverbs 31:31
I smile at these words. Honor her for all that her hands have done.
In a world consumed with appearance, in my mind obsessed with pretty
hands all that God cares about is what my hands have done.
Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived had some thoughts on hands as well.
Whatever
your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of
the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor
knowledge nor wisdom. Eccl. 9:10
I
only have one chance to do something with my hands. You only have one
chance to do something with your hands. Let’s use our hands to hands to give
Glory to God.
Today, I pray like Nehemiah, "Strengthen my hands Lord."
References accessed Feb. 14, 2013:
http://www.allroundmagazine.com/In_The_Magazine/itm_HANDS_FACTS.htmlhttp://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=sh-redspadres092410
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