Open Hands

In November and December for some reason I kept reading about having "open hands."  It would come up in my devotions, in the books I was reading, in songs I heard.  And after reading or hearing about having open hands for, oh say, the 16th time I began to wonder if God was trying to tell me something.

My mom always says that if you hear it 3 times then it's probably coming from God.  I guess I was well past the point of that.  And my mom is one smart cookie, so I try to listen to what she says.  Try.

In Jesus Calling, Sarah Young says the following:

 "Your sense of security must not rest in your possessions...I(God) am training you to depend on Me alone, finding fulfillment in My Presence.  Instead of grasping and controlling, you are learning to release and receive."

I love the idea of God training me.  Like a person training for a marathon or something crazy like that.  I don't know, I try not do to those.  And that instead of trying to control my life, I have to release my life as I want it to be, and receive what God has in store for me.

And then I read this in Christmas is Not Your Birthday, by Mike Slaughter:

"Jesus takes the fives loaves and two fish from the disciples, blesses them, and then gives them back to the disciples to distribute.  The resources that God uses to multiply miracles to meet people's needs come from our hands.  When we obediently release what is in our hands, Jesus blesses it, multiplies it, and then gives it back to us for the purpose of distribution.  This is Kingdom Economics 101."

A different approach to the "open hands" concept.  So now I am not only to have open hands to release my expectations of my life and openly accept what He has in store, but I am also called to release my grip on the material things I have, ask God to bless them, and then send them on their way to do more good for Him.

Lysa TerKeurst also touched on this open hand idea in her book What Happens When Women Say Yes to God by saying the following:

"The more we say yes to God, the more we will live in expectation of seeing Him.  The more we expect to see God, the more we will.  The more you experience Him, the more you'll trust Him.  The more you trust Him, the more you'll open up your hands in absolute obedience.

Obedience becomes radical when we say, 'Yes, God, whatever You want,' and mean it.  We release our grip on all that we love and offer it back to Him, who loves us more.  And it is into these upturned hands that God will pour out His blessings--His abundant, unexpected, radical blessings.  Soon, saying yes to God will no longer be a discipline of your heart but rather the delight of your life."

And yet another take the on this topic.   That we need to have open hands to catch the blessings that God will pour out unto us when we decide to obey Him absolutely.

After reading all the above mentioned things, and more, my aunt approached me about doing this Community Closet Cleanse, which would require me to have open hands.  To let go of the things that I hold on to so tightly, to bless what I was about to let go of, and to open my hands to the blessings that He wanted to pour down.  And I jumped on board, because I felt like God had been preparing me for this exact thing.

And how do you say 'no' to God?


Please note that I had mentioned in an earlier post that I wouldn't quote any of the above mentioned books anymore.  But I lied.  It's all such good stuff, by such good people.  And I will pry use them all again.  So there.  Also, if you have a minute, listen to the song The Stand by Hillsong.  Good stuff there too.