What’s In Your Hand?

“Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.”  [Matthew 12:13]

We are always using our hands.  My hands take a beating in winter. Between the hand washing and the use of hand sanitizer, my hands need some serious lotion therapy!  But, my hands never fail me.  They do what my brain tells them to do.  Besides gripping things, my hands hold whatever I place into them.  But sometimes, I “hold” onto things I should let go of, things that perhaps no one else can physically see but I’m holding them nevertheless.  You know…bitterness, unforgiveness, pride, anger, resentment.  You get the picture.

How about you?  Do you find yourself holding similar items in your hands?  Things you would like to let go, but your grip is so tight that you have no idea how to actually release them from your hands?  The good news is that there is hope!

One Sunday (Sabbath), Jesus is visiting a church (local synagogue) when He notices a man with a “deformed hand.”  That is the extent of the description given of the man’s physical condition.  Yet, Jesus has compassion on the man and desires to heal him of his deformity.  No big fanfare, no angels singing, no choirs performing, no shouts of big words, Jesus simply says, “Hold out your hand.”  Instantly, the man’s hand was restored to its proper condition, just like his other hand.

Anytime Jesus miraculously heals someone of a physical condition, there is always a spiritual application.  Jesus comes to you and me and quietly inquires, “What’s in your hand?”  Even though He already knows, the question is intended for us.  He wants us to identify what it is that we are holding onto that we need to release.  Once we have taken that step, He then gently says, “Hold out your hand.”  Jesus wants to heal that which we are holding that is crippling us with a deformity.

Go ahead, take the first step and identify what is in your hand.  Then ask God to help you let go!  “Hold out your hand” and let Jesus restore what’s broken in your life.

What’s in your hand?