ON THE PORCH
LIFTED HANDS
**“Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven.” Lamentations 3:41
(Written 5.23.22)
This morning when I opened my computer to start typing, God exposed a place in my heart I’ve been hiding. He asked to see my hands.
“What for?”
“What were your hands made for?”
“They were made to pray. I pray, LORD. All the time.”
“What else were they made for?”
I sat in silence trying to figure out what I was missing. It took a long while and I was at my computer for what seemed like hours. Eventually it occurred to me that I’ve only been doing half of what my hands were created for, and that’s why my Spirit was so dry. Seems my soul was in a drought.
Sierra left for basic training in August 2021 to eventually be in the Army reserves. During the spring and summer of 2021 my Uncle David’s leukemia progressed, and he continued to decline. He was terminally sick and out of options, and I felt powerless to stop it.
I also felt powerless to make Sierra’s transition into basic any easier. Don’t get me wrong, she did fine. But when a baby leaves home and you only have a few minutes of contact per week (if everyone in the unit behaves and no one gets in trouble), a mama’s heart hurts with them.
**He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in Him. Psalm 40:3
On the way to our doctor visits in Liberal, Janet (David’s wife) would bust out in song, not necessarily the same song every time, or even a song she knew. Sometimes she just made it up as she went along. When I asked about this habit one day, she replied, “God put a song in my heart. I just sing it back to Him.” Now that, my friend, is worship. Janet taught me that if I listen, God will put a song in my heart. But I had to stop the monologue and be still first, which was next to impossible for me.
**“Every day I call upon You, O LORD; I spread out my hands to You.” Psalm 88:9
During this season, I stayed on my knees constantly. I asked, pleaded, requested, beseeched, and flat out begged.
That is only half of what the Bible says I am created for. The other half is to worship God, and I had neglected that. My hands were so tired and worn out from begging and pleading, they had no energy left to worship, no strength to be lifted to the heavens. My conversations with Jesus were one-way. There wasn’t much “fellowship,” and my heart was evidence of that. It was as dry as the ground in West Texas. My Spirit was parched.
** “For God is faithful through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son Christ Jesus.” 1 Corinthians 1:9
In the span of a month, Sierra left home for basic training and David went to home his heavenly family. He opened his eyes in glory at the end of September, and there would be no more doctor visits, chemo treatments, hospice or hurting. He was healed and with Jesus.
God merged the two worlds and sent a rain on my soul the night David passed away. Sierra could normally only talk a few minutes a week (if that). That Tuesday night, 15 minutes after David passed away, she asked for special permission to call home because she had a gut feeling. She knew David had passed before we told her. Even in the desert, God sent a shower on our dry and hurting hearts.
**Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1
Fast forward six months…
The picture shown of Miss June is during our morning church service on March 20, 2022. We were singing “We Will Worship the Lamb of Glory.”
The chorus states:
And with our hands lifted high, we will worship and sing.
And with our hands lifted high, we come before You rejoicing.
With our hands lifted high to the sky, when the world wonders why
We’ll just tell them we’re loving our King.
I have always loved this song. I love seeing our people lift their hands in worship. This song was brought to life and lived out by Miss June this particular Sunday. I took this picture from my desk in the back of the church one week to the day before Miss June was taken home to glory. We have been at Circleback since I was pregnant with Sierra. For those 22 years, Miss June has always sat in the third row from the front, piano side. That morning, her pew was “just too far to walk,” so she sat in the back. Even in her last few days, she was singing to her Savior and lifting her hands in holy worship. When Miss June passed away, the nurse heard her ask God to “take her home”, and He did, immediately. What a testament to a life lived close to her LORD! I want to follow in Miss June’s footsteps. I want to live my life to the fullest, allow God to work through me, and worship with my last breath.
Sierra graduated as a 68-Whiskey and is back home now, only serving as a “weekend warrior.” In fact, she went back to Fort Sill a couple weekends ago for four days of training, to requalify in shooting. That trip was different, though. Praying for her this time was only half of my meeting with God. I also worshiped.
Each day, I want to intentionally lift my hands in worship. I will open them wide and point them towards the heavens, so that God can fill them with whatever He desires. Only then can I use what He gives me to love on others in their dry and weary places.
LORD, today was a hard devo to write. Being totally honest is tough. But until Your light shined upon the places my heart that I was hiding because they are broken and dry, they could not be healed. Thank You for creating my hands for so many purposes, but most importantly, to worship You. Remind me to worship first, then petition. Sometimes my prayer list is a mile long, and that can take up our entire conversation without You getting a word in edgewise. Thank You for giving me back “the song in my heart” and reigniting my “desire to devo.” Help me be still in Your presence. Give me Your words and use my hands and my heart to love those around me. Thank You for David and Janet’s example in loving broken people, and for Janet’s willingness to sing the song in her heart when I had no song in mine. Thank You for Miss June’s example and her faithful love and devotion to You and her family. Thank You Miss June was willing to raise her hands and worship You and raise her children to love and serve You. Comfort Janet and Miss June’s family in this time of sorrow. Hold them tight as only You can and infuse them with Your peace that passes understanding. In Your Precious and Holy Name. Amen
**“So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift up my hands.” Psalm 63:4
**“I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land.” Psalm 143:6
WE WILL WORSHIP THE LAMB OF GLORY
*Every time we sing this song from now until forever, I will think of Miss June and her hands lifted to her LORD.
ON THE PORCH 