Empty Hands

The Lord has blessed me with many wise friends who seek Him out on a daily basis. Because of this, He often speaks to me through my friends (many times without them even knowing how much their words have meant to me).

So I'm going to call these next few posts: Words with Friends. 

Get it? See what I did there?

Anyway. Back to today's quote.

(I guess before I start I should also give a disclaimer that these will be paraphrases of my friends' words. I don't take a notebook with me to every conversation so I often come away with the gist of what they said - not word-for-word. You'll forgive me.)

"How can I receive blessings from the Lord when my hands are full of everything else? I have to first empty my hands (and keep emptying them) and then receive His blessings."

Man alive. When my dear friend said this talking about her own life, it was like she had hit me upside the head. I so often do not have empty hands.

I try to fill my hands with anything and everything. Is there something I can be in charge of? Let me take it into my own hands. Is a boy showing interest? Let me fill my hands with things that will impress him. Is a friendship heading south? Let me grab on as hard as I can.

And they're not always bad things. Has God blessed me with a new ministry? Let me juggle all the details. Am I succeeding in piano? Let me practice even more. Is someone hurting? Let me hold them until they're better on their own.

While so many of these things are good and can be used for His glory, He's still calling me to empty my hands. Because when I do let go of everything I'm so desperately grasping, that's when He fills me with Him. Nothing less. Nothing more. Just Him. But how can I receive Him when I've piled my hands so high with stuff, I have no room left to hold His hand? No room to receive His love?

Oh LORD, empty me. Empty my hands that I may receive you and only you. Nothing less. Nothing more.