“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.” Psalm 103:8
Unclench Your Hands
Last Wednesday night at church I was praying for a dear friend the Lord had placed on my heart early that morning. I had my hands together in prayer, when I heard a soft whisper, “Unclench your hands.” I immediately felt a release of pressure that I didn’t even realize had formed in my hands and forearms. Then, “Open up your hands and release this precious child and all your concerns about them to Me.” As I opened up my hands and lifted up my palms, I could feel a weight lifted off my shoulders, and a peace came over me.
In this particular case my hands were clenched in prayer for someone, but I sit here this morning wondering about other times and circumstances where my hands have been clenched. Anger and fear immediately come to mind.
In these instances and many other ones you can think of in your own life, isn’t the whisper still the same? “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm” (Psalm 37:8). The same whisper, “Unclench your hands, release them to Me.” Psalm 103:8 tells us: “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.” Let us be like Him.
When we’re afraid of someone or something happening to a loved one, don’t we hold on with clenched hands? We desperately try to fix it, or keep them away from whatever we fear for them, most often with absolutely no control over whether it happens or not. Our fear may consume us but we have faith that God is in control. “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)
Let us believe and walk with unclenched hands in what 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.” Again, “Unclench your hands; release them in faith to Me.”
1 Samuel 12:24 (HCSB) tells us Who we are to fear (morally revere): “Above all, fear the LORD and worship Him faithfully with all your heart; consider the great things He has done for you.” Let us have a godly fear of Him, and Him alone.
“Lord, help us to unclench our hands and raise them in every circumstance to You: a God who is slow to anger—patient and merciful, Who, from before time began and into eternity, knows how our (and our loved ones’) short time here on earth will all play out. You are so able to answer every prayer as it should be answered and not necessarily as we pray it. You are the light, salvation, and strength of our lives. Help us to live a life of faith as we consider the great things You have done for us, and those things You have yet to do. Amen.”