“Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
Acts 4: 29-30 (NIV)
I think a lot about our hands and how we use them in simple gestures or in acts of kindness. We are all God’s servants, and as we speak His words of comfort to others, He touches others through our hands. It’s what being the body of Christ is all about.
It means so much to some people to receive affirmation through a touch. We acknowledge people through a simple wave or a handshake, especially in laying a hand on someone as we pray for them. These are ways that our human hands can briefly become the hands of Jesus.
Last week Jon’s uncle visited him. He pastors a church in the Grayslake area, and has visited Jon every month since his accident. He came last week, while I was there and we prayed for him together. As he prayed, he placed his hands on Jon’s shoulders, but Jon tried to remove his uncle’s hand from his shoulder. We just looked at each other but he finished praying anyway. I’m not sure if that was Jon expressing resistance to prayer, or just an expression of his current state of confusion. It really doesn’t matter because we will pray for him anyway, and then leave him in God’s hands.
Whenever I visit, I usually sit with Jon for a while, but routinely mingle with the other residents in the day room, since most of them never have any visitors. I’ve learned everyone’s name and they know mine as well.
One day, I arrived to see Amber sitting all alone at a table on the other side of the room. Tawana wasn’t there that day and since no one else was sitting with her, I went over to greet her but she was quiet and withdrawn that day.
I put the music on for her and she briefly smiled at me, but still said nothing. I felt the urge to stay beside her for a while and listened to music with her. Suddenly, there was a loud outburst of anger, and an altercation across the room from where we were. Two male residents were shouting at each other, about to get physical, as several staff persons rushed over to to try and de-escalate the tension.
As we watched the tense encounter from across the room, I wondered how Amber was perceiving the whole scene. I put my hand on her shoulder and quietly whispered to her, “It’s okay, Amber.” I kept my hand on her, and she didn’t resist my touch. I was relieved since I wasn’t sure how she would react to touch, with her complicated history. I kept my hand on her shoulder telling her everything is okay and then there was peace in the room again.
While I was alone with Amber on that side of the room, I took the next step, and said a silent prayer for her, with my hand still on her shoulder. I think God was separating us from all the others that day, giving me a chance to privately pray for her. The timing was perfect, and I’m glad I felt compelled to stay with her and pray.
Most people want to be touched, to be acknowledged and to be prayed for. Some people, like Jon, might resist a hand on their shoulder for whatever reason, but there are countless others who actually hunger for it. We can only do what God leads us to do, with those who are open and receptive to it. We offer our hands to God, and He does the rest of the work, within a person’s heart.
Peter and John did what God led them to do, and as they touched people, God healed many of them miraculously. After Jesus ascended to heaven, all believers are now His hands and His voice, speaking to and touching anyone who hungers for Him. We simply make our hands available, and Jesus does the rest.
I’m already thinking of a few others at the Nursing Facility, and wonder what God has in store for them. He stretches out His hands through us, if we make ourselves available. Our hands are the only hands He has to use in this world. He uses us to touch and heal others, and He also sends other people to touch us at the perfect time in our need as well.
Lord, consecrate our hands and use them to extend your healing touch to others. Let your Spirit speak through us, and help others to know how much you love them. Amen