Motivation Article: God’s Hands on Earth

A story I once read in grade school helped me to discover the answer…

During World War II, a young English soldier was separated from his platoon late one night during a German bombing raid. Although the noise was deafening and the damage was devastating, he was able to make his way to a nearby bunker to weather the attack. Early the next morning, he came out of hiding and searched for his regiment. As he was walking along the road, he came upon a church that had been destroyed by the evening blasts. With the ashes and embers still aflame, he decided to step inside the structure and have a look around. Hearing the timbers and gravel crunching under his feet, he walked carefully through the shell of the church. The roof had been completely destroyed and most of the stained glass windows had also been shattered, leaving sparkling shards of color scattered on the floor. As he continued to explore the debris, he was touched by the true extent of the damage. He was heart-broken and wondered how anyone could be so evil. He could only imagine how many people had been affected by the bombings. Next, he walked into the cemetery passing the cracked and decimated tombstones, the loving memorials to those who had been laid to rest. In the trees, birds chirped and the sun started to come out from behind the clouds. He continued to walk on but then something in the courtyard caught his eye.

When he went over to investigate, he noticed a familiar sight. A brilliantly carved, marble statue of Jesus was standing nobly over a bed of smoldering flowers. It was magnificent but, its hands had been blown off by the blasts. He walked around the statue and then stood in front of it thinking for awhile. The statue seemed undignified in the state it was in. He looked down, picked up a charred board at his feet, and used a pointed rock to carve an inscription on it. He then placed the board where the statue’s hands had been, facing the inscription outward for all to see. It read, “Now, you must be my hands.” With that he walked away, the statue growing ever smaller in the distance as he looked back. After that day, he would never look at a statue of Jesus the same way again. What he realized that day stuck with him for the rest of his life…

…God has no physical hands to do His work upon the Earth but, through the Holy Spirit he uses those who are faithful and believe in Him to do His work each day for Him. When we choose to serve God and we are faithful to Him, we can become His hands and through us, His will can be done. When Christ left this Earth, He told His disciples He would send a messenger to them and on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the faithful. Through Him, we can become God’s Hands on Earth.