LIFTING UP OUR HANDS IN VICTORY

LIFTING UP OUR HANDS IN VICTORY

A few years ago, when I was working on a special finish for a hotel in California, I had to match an existing piece. I worked at it, but it was difficult. I started to feel the pressure, and I was getting more and more fearful as the day went on. The deadline was growing bigger than the possibility of a solution.

 

Finally, I had to get both of 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!

 

But at least I was going to have help. 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. His first direction to me was to look at the story of Ruth in the Bible. 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.

 

I remembered a TED talk I saw on the internet. It was about nonverbal communication, and they did a test to show how nonverbal communication could affect a good outcome. The challenge was to lift your hands in a show of victory. You had to keep your hands up for two minutes. As it turned out, when the people did it, their blood levels of testosterone went up, and their level of the stress hormone of cortisol went down and they felt 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 it if I didn’t feel more confident. I really did! I felt invigorated and even a little carefree.

 

It worked! I lifted my hands like it says in the Bible. And the experiment shown on the TED talk showed me how to do it for two minutes straight.

 

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 off 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 appeared reddish when we had it inside! We got out a fan deck of colors and took the piece outside to match it up. We were sure we’d do better the next day. At least, I knew I’d have a better attitude, and I’d start with my hands lifted in victory.

 

As well as lifting my hands, I prayed for God’s mercy and kindness to me. I knew He would help me come up with a solution to our problem. “With everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer” (Is. 54:8).

 

Sometimes it’s difficult to keep working on something that seems so hard. God knows this, and speaks plainly to us. He says in Hebrews 12:11-12: “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.” We can do it, and we are victorious!

 

I finished the sample; it was approved and now decorates the outer walls of a major hotel in Southern California.

 

That was the past and now it’s time once again to employ this 2-minute victory pose to some new situations. I hope you will try this out too. The victories we see in our own lives will help us to teach a victorious life to others as well.

 

Love, Carolyn