Open Your Hands

Photo by Milada Vigerova on Unsplash

God created us with two hands. Hands are wonderful things, useful things. Our hands allow us to hold on to things. And, there are times in life when we need to hold on to things. There are some things in life that we should on to tightly and never, ever let go of. I think the most important and precious thing we can hold on to in this life is God. We need to hold onto Him, His love, His grace, His forgiveness, and His promises. 

But, let’s be honest, there are also times in life when we need to learn to let go. I know, I know, letting go isn’t always an easy thing. Actually, I have personally found that it can be very hard. However, as we grow in our spiritual lives, it is imperative for us to learn how to let go. This is a key component in being spiritually mature. We must learn to let go of anger, bitterness, shame, disappointment, failure, stress, and hurt.

Once we let go of these things, our lives will become lighter and more peaceful. And, who doesn’t want that?

The problem is learning how to let go.

This is something that I struggle with often. I think we sometimes get a sick satisfaction out of holding onto things that are bad for us. Somehow, for some reason, we can get a kind of joy out of holding onto our anger and bitterness. Or, we take satisfaction in proving that we are right, even if that means we hold onto our disappointments, failures, and hurts. This has got to stop!

With this in mind, I am trying my best to let go of things that are harmful to me. And, I stumbled upon something recently that is helping me do a better job of this. (At least a little bit anyway. This is a baby-step process for me, just like everything is in my life.) So, I wanted to share this nugget with all of you. So here I am.

Question: What happens when you let go of something? Answer: You open your hands.

When you open your hands, two things happen: you let go and you set yourself up to receive.

We so often focus on the “letting go” part, but don’t think about the “opening up to receive” part. And, this is an essential part of the process, don’t you think? This second part never even occurred to me before. I was listening to a meditation app on my iPhone the other day and it was mentioned in that day’s meditation. It was a small revelation for me. (One that has the potential to be huge!)

When I think about letting go of things that are harmful to me, I occupy my mind with getting rid of the bad. What I should be centering my attention on is not only getting rid of the bad, but taking in the good that comes along with that. It’s a two part process – out with the bad, in with the good.

We can open our hands to let go of all the negative things that are weighing us down, and at the same time set ourselves up to receive God’s love, forgiveness, and peace. We just need to retrain our brains to think of the positive effects we will get. By opening our hands to receive we can rewire our minds; and this will in turn rewire our hearts. We can learn to open our hearts and minds, as well as our hands.  
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So go ahead and open your hands. Receive all the good things God has for you. This practice of opening our hands to God’s love is just the beginning. Once you get the good stuff, you will want others to have it too. And, every good gift is from above. That is what we should be holding onto. So, will you join with me today and open your hands? I know that we will all be better for it.