Graham & Hands

 

That’s Graham.  Isn’t he a cutie?  Three weeks ago I visited the local animal shelter and found Graham, a 5 month old kitten.  I brought him home and soon got used to being greeted by him every morning and every afternoon, being tripped by him as he excitedly led me to his food and stopped under my feet just to make sure I was coming, playing with him and his toy mice, and watching movies and grading papers with him cuddled up on my lap.  But, sadly, I had to give him back to the animal shelter yesterday because my allergies reacted much stronger to Graham than they had to my childhood cat, Tigger.

I’m not going to lie.  I feel brokenhearted.  It’s amazing how attached you can get to something in a period of three weeks.  And as I got ready for church this morning, I couldn’t help but feel like my apartment was empty.

I wish I could have kept Graham.  But, to state the quote that no one who is hurting likes to hear, “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”  It’s true.  I’m glad I had three weeks to love this little kitten, and I pray that he would be placed in an even better home than mine. 

And I will say that God used Graham, even in this short time, to teach me some very good lessons.  I’d like to highlight just one here.

When Graham would sit on my lap, he just wanted to be in contact with one of my hands.  He would move around, looking for my hands if they weren’t petting him.  And if I put my hand down, he would squish his little face into my hand and fall asleep.  It was absolutely adorable.  J  I don’t know why he was so obsessed with hands.  Maybe all little kittens are.  They get their backs rubbed by hands, and food comes from hands, and….even medicine sometimes comes from hands.  I think that Graham felt comforted by hands.  Which, also explains why, while he was in the crate on the way to the shelter, he used his paw to hold onto one of my fingers in the midst of pathetic mewing. 

As we both cried in the car, (okay…maybe I teared and Graham just meowed) I realized how often life can seem like I’m Graham in his crate.  Journeys are rough.  When I am taken into different places, scared by loud noises, and forced to interact with new people it can be intimidating.  And yet, if I trust my Owner – I know that He does the hard stuff (gives me medicine and moves me) because He loves me and knows what’s best.    

Graham was comforted by my hands at home…in a place that was familiar…and in the journey, he could still find comfort in my hands/fingers, because he trusted them.

What a lesson Graham taught me! 

With Christ, my Lord, I don’t just lean on His everlasting arms…I can hold onto His powerful hands.

I looked up Bible verses that referred to the hands of the Lord, and there were many.  There are verses that talk about how big & powerful his hands are (Job 12:10, Psalm 95:4, Psalm 98:1, Psalm 118:14-16).  There are verses that refer to the security we can have by trusting in his hand/strength (Psalm 16:8, Psalm 37:23-24, Psalm 63:8, Psalm 111:7, Isaiah 51:16).  There are even verses (many of them) that show God’s hand as a pressure to remind us of our sin and guilt, like in Psalm 32:4.  But I wanted to highlight the few that have always stood out to me – and now, especially so:

1.       “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

2.       “For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you.’” Isaiah 41:13 (NIV)

3.       “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand.  I will keep you and make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles…”  Isaiah 42:6 (NIV)

Phew!  Such great reminders!  God holds our hand!  He grabs a hold of it.  He keeps us.  He helps us.  And, how much comfort when we recognize it:

4.       “Yet, I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.”  Psalm 73:23 (NIV)

5.       “You hem me in - behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.  Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”  Psalm 139:5-10 (NIV)

As Matt Redman so musically reminds us, God never lets go.  Thankfully, it doesn’t depend on our strength.  But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t reach out.

6.       “…I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV)

I want to walk through life holding Jesus’ hand.  I want to seek after it, just as Graham sought after my hands.  I want to rest in God’s hand, no matter what the journey is – through joy or heartache.

I had to let Graham go, but Jesus will never let us go.  His hand is always there. 

But often, it is when we spend time with the LORD in His Word that we truly recognize His hands. 

The Bible contains the story of Ezra, “a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given” (Ezra 7:6).  Whenever I read the section on Ezra, I see some variant of this phrase over and over:  “the gracious hand of the LORD my God was on me”.  I’ve counted 6 times in Ezra (7:6, 7:9, 7:28, 8:18, 8:22, 8:31).

Ezra was a man who recognized God’s hand.  As Christians, we are led, guided and protected by Christ’s hand.   Psalm 95:7 (ESV) states:  “For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of His hand.”  Is that my identity? 

The gospel writer John described himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”.  I want to take it one step further – to not just be amazed that I am the “girl who Jesus loves”, but also the “girl who holds Jesus’ hand”.  (and maybe I should say, “the girl whose hand Jesus holds”. J)

I thank God for my time with little Graham.  He is precious.

And as Graham reached out for my hand for comfort – may I never forget reach out to hold the hand that holds the world and recognize that it also holds me.