I’ve been making a study of the human hand, lately. It’s amazing to see it in its newest form, only days old, complete with nails and knuckles and finger prints. In its very first moments outside the womb, it can already grip with surprising strength, already seeming to know it needs to touch things…it needs to have something to hold onto.

I think of the hands in my life that have loved me, and what they’ve conveyed through their touch. My mother’s have comforted and consoled, and my father’s have provided and guided. My grandfather’s played and my grandmother’s cherished. My husband’s have done, and continue to do, all of the above, in addition to holding on through thick and thin, and sweeping me off my feet. Then, there are my children, and now, grandchildren, who have held on to my hands, looking for all these things, and offering their own brand of pure, trusting love.

I believe our hands are an extension of our hearts. They flesh out what our hearts are feeling. I know some of us have seen hands flesh out the darker side of the heart, used as instruments of pain and abuse. Like everything else about us humans, there is a propensity for the hand – every hand – to be wayward, for the heart is nothing if not a mixture of love and hate, of sympathy and spite. I’m thankful there is One Hand – THE Hand – that only operates from a totally pure place: an undivided, non-conflicted heart. There is nothing but love there, because He IS love. He is incapable of acting out of anything else. And you know what?

He wants to hold your hand.

“The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8 MSG

“For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”” Isaiah 41:13 ESV

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 ESV