Adopt A Palms-Up Attitude

The babies in our church nursery have the strongest grips I have ever known. Once they get a hold of your hair, your glasses or your jewelry, they’re determined to pull them off and keep them forever. Not to mention if you give them your finger - you’ll lose feeling in your fingertips in a matter of moments.

We carry this grip into adulthood, whether we realize it or not. But instead of holding on to someone’s finger as a reflex, our fear and worry teach us to hold on to things as tightly as we can. We squeeze the life out of our relationships, position, home, possessions and other “stuff” in our lives because we’re desperately clinging to them.

God says “Cling to me instead. Let go of the ‘stuff’ you’re trying to hold on to and show me the palms of your hands.”

This palms-up way of thinking releases the emotional need to tightly grasp people, things and memories just to keep them close. In order to see your palms, you have to uncurl your fingers and drop whatever you’re holding. And for many of us, this is a scary proposition.

You’ve probably been holding on to some things all your life: your need to be loved, your fear of rejection or your desire to have that white-picket-fence life. Or maybe you’ve acquired things over the years that you don’t want to let go - things that are now packed away in boxes that you only pull out once in a great while. Or perhaps you’re clinging to ideas, notions and assumptions that God never intended for you to have in the first place.

And now you’re in a panic over giving them up. How could God ask you to drop these important things? They’ve always been there, and now you’re worried about what life will be like without them.

Living with white knuckles in each part of your life doesn’t bring the best because you’re not willing to trust and expect God to fulfill His promises. Clinging to anything but God just brings doubt and discouragement to your soul and numbness to your hands.

I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. Psalm 143:6

What if living with a palms-up attitude isn’t about the negative, but about the positive? What if you don’t turn your marriage over to the Lord, expecting Him to take it away, but allow Him to do miracles in your heart and in your husband? What if you don’t release your home or your property to Him, convinced that He’ll just make you move, but let Him open your doors wide for beautiful acts of hospitality and fellowship?

Instead of letting go and expecting the worst-case scenario, what wold happen if you gave everything in your life to the Lord, knowing that release brings the best? By throwing your hands wide open, God has the opportunity to work His plan without your interference. There is no fear over the results because God’s glory and your good are now the focus.

By giving up your control, you’re really just trusting in God to be in control instead. By releasing the death grip you have on your husband and your marriage, choking the life out of it, surrender means God can work in great and mighty ways that He couldn’t when you were stubborn. 

Let go of your anger, and He can put His peace in your heart. Give up the need to control every situation, and He can work miracles in them. Give up. Let go. Show Him the palms of your hands.

Are you willing to uncurl your fingers and relinquish control of your life to the Lord? If so, prepare yourself for blessings beyond compare. The palms-up attitude He is looking for in you can change not only your heart and immediate life, but the outcome of so many issues in the circumstances around you.

Are you ready for the blessings that come from clinging to God and nothing else?