I recently had an interesting image come to my mind when I was falling asleep one night. I imagined one of my hands in front of me, with my palm up. Then, another hand (also palm up) was placed under my hand and raised both of our hands up higher. Soon, I became conscious enough to know I wanted to write down this imagery. My initial thought as I went back to sleep was, “What a beautiful image that someone would help me in my surrender and praise of God.” The next morning, this imagery was still on my mind, so I was considering possible meanings of it, and I brought it up during GDT’s Bible study time. As I shared, while I wasn’t sure whose hand was placed under mine, I pondered how it could be God’s hand, and He could be teaching me more about His leading in my life. Ultimately, His hand and Spirit help raise our hearts and hands up to Him.

Typically, if you were to give someone a handshake, or give your hand in response to someone saying, “take my hand,” you would place the palm of your hand in their palm. This hold is also used in a partnered dance, which gives both the leader (often the hand underneath) and the follower a sense of control during the dance through the opposite direction of light pressure. However, in considering what it would be like to dance with a partner with my palms up in their hands, I would be even more subject to their leading and couldn’t easily regain control of the situation if I wanted to. I connected this type of hand hold to my relationship (or dance) with God. He is the one leading me and my life, and He invites us into a yielding and trusting posture toward Him.

Presenting our hands palms up can mean several things such as surrendering, providing help, asking for something, or giving a gift. Even in a worship service, a common expression of praise or request to God is to lift our hands up. As I’ve been practicing handing over my worries, pride, pain, and sorrows to God, I’ve felt that my soul has been lifting its palms up to Jesus. The palm is the more sensitive side of our hand, so this position feels more vulnerable. However, offering our palms to God and releasing what we carry to Him also places us in the position to receive from Him.

Understanding God’s heart toward us as He leads us is so important, because if we try to white knuckle our way through life, we will end up even more weary and burdened. Jesus reveals His heart in Matthew 11:28-29, which says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (NIV). Jesus doesn’t expect us to carry the weight of our lives on our own, instead tenderly offers us rest and grace in Him. As we come to Him, loosening our grip of control over our lives enables us to take His humble hand. Acknowledging our need for Him is vulnerable, but He is worthy of our vulnerable trust. While He may lead us into deserts, or wilderness, or suffering, or the valley of the shadow of death, He promises to never leave us, nor forsake us.

I’ve found myself placing my own two hands in the double palm position, which has been both convicting and comforting. It has been convicting in that as I practice letting God hold what weighs on me, I also see all the areas of my life I struggle to trust God with full control over. It has been comforting through the physical security I feel, which point to the spiritual security I have in God’s hands. He knows we are like sheep, so easily wandering off into the nearest thorny bush or cliff’s edge. The good news for sheep like us is that He calls Himself the Good Shepherd, who lays down His life for His sheep, and He went to the farthest length (of death) to claim us as His own. His glorious, resurrected, pierced hands are the ones we can place our lives into, having full assurance He will lead us on into eternal life.