How I Used Truth - Lesson 6 - Annotation 4
When do our hands serve as the "hand of God"?
4. Our hands serve as the "hand of God" when they are expressing or carrying out the plan or will of God. They serve as the "hand of God" when they are doing acts of love, kindness and thoughtfulness. Our hands are truly the "hand of God" when they are doing the constructive work that brings our manifest world closer to the ideal world of God.
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
--Frances R. Havergal
Sometimes we may overlook the fact that those dedicated to bringing "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" are serving as the "hand of God." This is true whether in governmental, educational or religious circles. God has no other hands than ours. Our hands are not fulfilling their true purpose of doing God's will if we do not accept the privilege and responsibility of being a co-worker with God.
It is possible for us to serve as the "hand of God" only when our conscious phase of mind (thinking or reasoning faculty) and our subconscious phase of mind (feeling nature, or heart) are cleansed of all thoughts and feelings that do not measure up to the high standard of God. By the process of denial we are able to prepare our consciousness for the inflow of God's inspiration. Through affirmation, we are able to consecrate our hands to do God's bidding. We come to think of our hands as instruments that God uses, so that all work we perform is done to the glory of God and the honor of man.
"Love, the divine executor, finds a wonderful outlet
through your hands, as does every other divine quality. . . .
"The hands are the obedient servants of the will. When you realize that it is through you that God's perfect will is done in the world, when you surrender all personal willfulness and are ready to do His will, when you yield every turbulent, anxious, resistant thought to the certainty that His will is always good, then and not until then will you fully appreciate your hands and the holy office they are equipped to fulfill" (You Can Be Healed 130-131).
The text states on page 67, "Then keep the hand open" (How I Used Truth 67). This is first of all symbolic of an open mind, a mind that has become a receptive and clear channel for God's love, faith, wisdom, abundance, and life to flow in and through.
We need never doubt our ability to give if we have first sought God's guidance. Sometimes when we want to give some outer form of good to another, we are guided by God to give only of spiritual gifts. These may be in the form of a thought or prayer of love, appreciation, or understanding. Sometimes, of course, we may give an actual, material gift. Often when we feel we have no material gift worth giving, God leads us to give something that we may consider quite insignificant, but which will prove to be just the right gift to bless that particular occasion.
The text (page 67) gives a statement from Scripture that indicates how God's hand gives:
"Thou openest thy hand,
And satisfiest the desire of every living thing" (Psalms 145:16).
When we open our mind, our hand, to the calls made upon us, we are serving as the "hand of God" and giving as freely as God gives to "every living thing." The world cries out for peace, and it lies within our province to pray for peace. Also, we can do those things that make for peace in our homes, our places of employment, in our social, educational, and religious contacts. Jesus made a strong statement when He said, "I came not to destroy, but to fulfill" (Matt. 5:17). Our hands are lifted in blessing when we refrain from criticism in our human relationships and serve as the "hand of God" through our compassion, our understanding, our love. We are serving as "the hand of God" when we can say of the thoughts, words, acts, of every day,
"I am helping to fulfill God's plan of good for myself, my fellow man, the world, and the creatures of the world."
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Preceding Entry: Why do we say that our hands represent the "hand of God"?
Following Entry: How did the woman cited in the text (page 67) serve to bring freedom to a certain man?
