His Outstretched Hand

His outstretched hand reaches out. Do we accept? His hand extends to us and in it lies what He knows we need. Do we receive? Can we see His hand reaching out to us? Like any parent who sees a child in need, the reaction is to reach out. It’s instinctual. We just offer our hand. And yet, when our heavenly Father reaches out to us with His outstretched hand, can we respond with acceptance?

The Lord’s outstretched hand is His grace. An unmerited gift given to us, His beloved children. The hand of the Lord reaches out and extends healing, peace, protection, friendship, comfort, help, companionship, etc. He knows what we need even before we realize we need it. I think about the Samaritan woman who came at midday to draw water from the well. She was met by Jesus, his hand outstretched to her. She does not initially receive his hand for she questions him, and my guess is, his intentions. Jesus is persistent. “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10). The Samaritan woman is asked to reach out as well. We must meet God’s outstretched hand with ours. I wonder how many times have I missed seeing His hand reaching out to me and failed to receive the gift God was offering?

The Samaritan Woman came to the well at midday in order to not be seen. It was how she protected herself. It was her defense mechanism to keep from being vulnerable. But the Lord asks for something different. In Luke 6:8-10 “Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, ‘Get up and stand in front of everyone.’ So he got up and stood there. He [Jesus] looked around at them all, and then said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was completely restored.” Can you imagine how uncomfortable that must have been for the man with the shriveled hand? The very thing he kept hidden, was the very thing Jesus asked him to reveal. However may seconds he stood there must have felt like an eternity. “Stand in front of everyone, so everyone can see you and what I am about to do.” Talk about exposure. Jesus calls him out. He already knows what the man needs and desires. Jesus asks him to be vulnerable and to put himself out there, exposed and vulnerable- and then Jesus heals him. Why did Jesus ask this of the man with the shriveled hand? Jesus could have healed the man without calling him out into this place of all eyes on him. Jesus is asking us to make ourselves vulnerable and visible, defenseless, so nothing impedes our receiving God’s outstretched hand and the gift He holds.

The Lord’s hand takes on many forms. As St. Teresa of Avila said, “Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours…” We are asked to be His outstretched hand and give to others. We are called to be conduits of what the Lord wishes to give whether that be His healing touch, a gentle word, a humble gesture. Simply, we are asked to cooperate with the Lord to deliver His grace. There are times when we are in a place of needing to receive His outstretched hand. Yet, I find it so much easier to be on the giving end; it gives me a false sense of strength (nudge, nudge that’s pride). I feel good when I do or give something to someone else (nudge, nudge that’s selfishness). It’s infinitely harder to either ask for or receive the outstretched hand. Why is that? Because we must humble ourselves and let down our defensives. What defenses? I’m good, I’ve got this, don’t need any help, don’t want to inconvenience anyone or burden anyone, I deal with my stuff alone. But the Lord is asking us to let our defenses down, tear down the walls and become vulnerable. Because in being asked to “Stand in front of everyone, so everyone can see you and what I [Jesus] am about to do,” the Lord can extend His outstretched hand, His grace to us – God’s glory revealed!

May we have eyes to see His outstretched hand. The defenselessness and vulnerability to accept the gift He holds in His hand. And the humility and selflessness to be pure conduits of God’s grace.

Christ Has No Body

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

–St. Teresa of Avila