PALMS-UP LIVING

here's another posting i've been meaning to write for a long time...

back in the summer, i was at a worship service and the worship leader lead a "palms-up/palms-down" prayer. with our hands lifted with the palms up, we prayed for blessings and grace. with our palms down, we gave up our sins and worries. while i thought this was an interesting way of physically illustrating our interaction with God, i've been thinking more about what it means to live with my palms up.

to me, having my palms up signals a position of giving and receiving. with my palms up, i can offer up to God all that i have, whether it be my gifts, talents, anxieties or sins. and there, i am also in a place to receive God's word, blessings, grace and forgiveness. when i stand with my empty hands turned upwards, it symbolizes my nakedness in front of God; i have nothing to bring to Him other than myself as i am. last weekend, during a time of worship, God revealed a new meaning to me. when my palms are up, my hands cannot be closed in a fist. i cannot lift my palms like this. i must let go of my grasp on all the things my human nature wants to keep. i must open my hands and let God take or give as He chooses. it doesn't mean i will lose everything i have. it means that God has complete control. it's surrender.

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
~Psalm 63:4~