LIFT UP HANDS IN VICTORY
I was working on a faux
finish that would go on the outside of a building. I was matching an existing
piece and was having a lot of trouble. The pressure was mounting, and I was getting more and more fearful as the
day went on. The deadline was growing closer than the possibility of a
solution. I got both my bosses outside to take a look at the pieces I’d done
and get some suggestions. All the suggestions included mixing more paint,
starting from scratch and going through all the steps again. Yikes!
We all went our separate
ways for lunch, and I took the opportunity to pray. I prayed for Jesus to help
me. I really needed Him, and I told Him so. I was directed by the Lord
to open my Bible to the book of Ruth. As I was soaking in her story, the
scripture came into my head: “Lift up the
hands that hang down,” from Hebrews 12:12.
That scripture coming to
my mind was evidence to me of the love of Jesus and the mercy of God to answer
my cry for help. Next, the Lord reminded me of a TED talk I watched on YouTube about
nonverbal communication. The premise was that if a people lifted their hands in
a victory pose for just 2 minutes, their blood levels of testosterone would go
up and they would feel more confident.
I decided now was
the time to try it.
I went into the restroom.
I laid down my cell phone on the sink and looked at the time. I lifted my arms
above my head as if I’d just won a race and I said out loud, “I have the victory
through Jesus Christ; I have the victory through Jesus.” I snuck a look at my
phone, and I’d only done it for one
minute, so I stretched out my arms a little more and said it a few more
times till 2 minutes were up. I
left the restroom and doggone if I didn’t feel more confident. I really did. I felt invigorated and even a
little carefree.
It worked! I lifted up my hands as
it says in the Bible, and like it was confirmed and demonstrated on the TED
talk.
When my one boss came back
from lunch, he started working on the pieces with me, and we had some good laughs as we both came up with almost the same exact colors. We took them outside to see
how they looked against the sample; they were way off! We both looked at each
other with wrinkled brows. We shrugged our shoulders and back inside we went to
try again.
The goofy thing is that
the piece we were looking at appeared to have mustard color in it when we saw
it outside, and the same color seemed to be
reddish when we had it inside! We got out a fan deck of colors and took the
piece outside to match it up, so I’m sure we’ll do better tomorrow. One thing’s
for sure: I will have a better attitude, and
my hands will stay lifted in victory.
Life is better with Jesus
for sure and God’s kindness and mercy to me today was well appreciated. “With everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee,
saith the Lord thy Redeemer” (Is. 54:8).
“For the moment all
discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the
peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by
it. Therefore lift your drooping hands” (Heb. 12:11-12).
Well as it turned out, God’s
mercy prevailed: I finished up the sample; the guys put it on the side of a huge building in California and the client loved it.
If you didn’t get to watch
the TED talk before, here’s the link. I think it’s less than 10 minutes long.
Enjoy.
Love, Carolyn
My book, WINGS:
A Journey in Faith – an awesome spiritual adventure and a great interactive
workbook. Find it on Amazon in paperback or
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