I Am Bill’s Hands

By Mark Roberts

I am the primary way Bill controls and manipulates his world. I can do the most delicate tasks, like thread a needle, and then do the most physically demanding work, like pound nails in a two-by-four with a hammer. If it weren’t for me, Bill would have difficulty eating, driving a car, writing his name or holding his Bible. I am Bill’s hands.

The first thing you should know about me is that I am a wonder of creation that is just about unsurpassed on Bill. Bill’s Brain is pretty complicated (and it controls me) and his Eyes are amazing. However, if you want a combination of muscle, bone and nerves that can get things done then you want me. Some of the densest nerve groupings in the whole body are on my fingertips, meaning I can feel at an incredibly fine and detailed level. There are no less than 27 bones in me, with 14 of those just being in my fingers. All of that is made really functional by good ol’ thumb, who can rotate and close over my palm or fingers so that I can grab and hold on to things. Sometimes Bill envies the animal kingdom. He wishes he could see in the dark like a cat, or swim like a dolphin or run like a deer. Well, all of them wish they had hands like he has! Nothing in the animal kingdom, not even among the apes and chimpanzees, is as capable of fine motor skills and careful work like the human hand. Of course, evolutionists like to point to ape’s opposable thumbs as proof of evolution. This always makes Feet laugh because monkey’s have opposable thumbs on their feet for climbing in trees. If we are from apes why don’t we have thumbs on our feet too? Evolutionists don’t like those kind of questions! They might say something about the thumb going away as humans walked more, but apes walk too and have the ability to grasp with their feet. Bill’s feet can’t grab anything. Evolutionists especially don’t like to talk about the incredible complexity in the hand. Did you know there are no muscles in your fingers? All the movement in your fingers is coordinated by ligaments and tendons that are pulled or released from the muscles in your palms and the back of your hand. This makes your hand an incredible machine with unparalleled strength, dexterity and sensitivity. I can play the guitar, fretting with incredible speed and precision to make beautiful music, and then I can swat a mosquito on my leg with enough force and speed to kill the mosquito but not break any bones. I can pick up a piece of tissue paper or turn the delicate pages of a Bible without tearing them, and I can also crush a soda can. I can brush away Eye’s tears so gently and then snap branches into kindling wood! Hands are amazing and the more you know about them the more certain you will be they were designed and created by God. Sir Isaac Newton once said “In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.” Hands are incredible, aren’t they?

What really matters, of course, is what Bill does with his hands. There are all kinds of ordinary activities that I can do, like grabbing something (Exodus 4:4) or holding things (Judges 7:20). There are also bad things I can do like hitting someone (Mark 14:65) or accepting bribes (Psalm 26:10). Some people are left-handed, like Ehud (Judges 3:15). Hopefully I can say this without offending lefthanded folks, but the Bible does set some store by the right hand as being a position of honor and influence (Ps 110:1; Mark 14:62). Sometimes I can even be used to stand for the entire person, as in Sheba’s rebellion. 2 Samuel 20:21 says, “But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, called Sheba the son of Bichri, has lifted up his hand against King David.” Hands can do a lot, can’t they? I want to spotlight here two special works that I can do. See if your hands need to be doing these things too.

The Bible specifies that a person needs to work. Usually hands get singled out in those verses because ultimately it is your hands that actually do the work. Paul wanted the Thessalonian brethren “to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you” (1 Thess 4:11). He also says, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (Eph 4:28). Somehow society has decided that there are “blue collar workers” who do manual labor and “white collar workers” that don’t use their hands. The term “manual” even comes from a Latin root meaning “something that can be held in the hands.” However, just about everybody works with their hands in some fashion. That could be holding a shovel and digging a ditch, or carrying food to the restaurant customer, or typing up a report, or using mouse and keyboard to make a presentation for the boss. Some work may require more brawn and less brains and other work more thinking and less muscle, but ultimately work has to be expressed or done in some way. When it is time to get to work Bill needs me. Hands work. What bothers me is that work just isn’t valued much in our world any more. People don’t take pride in what they do. Some don’t want to work at all. The Bible will have none of that: “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man” (Prov 24:33-34). God has always wanted His people to be involved in constructive, honest work. Even Adam and Eve tended the Garden (Genesis 2:15), something they surely used their hands to do. I want Bill to be proud of his work; when he uses me to work he honors Christ. “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Eph 3:23-24).

The second special skill I have is the ability to write. Paul says in Galatians 6:11, “See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.” This is a unique ability that no other part of the body possesses. It means that I can communicate with others in a form that lasts and lasts. The spoken word that Mouth utters is heard and is then gone. What I write down is permanent. It can be seen by many people, even by people who aren’t alive when I wrote it for Bill. That gives me real power, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, even though there are so many ways for me to “write” today (via the electronic keyboard or with an old-fashioned pen and paper), sometimes Bill forgets how important writing can be. Sending someone a note encouraging them is a valuable use of your hands. Emailing someone to see how they are can make someone’s day. Writing a missionary in a foreign land to tell them you appreciate their sacrifices and labor would be a good thing, wouldn’t it? Writing an address on a meeting flyer and sending it to someone who needs to be invited to hear the Gospel might make an eternity’s difference to a lost soul. Sometimes Bill thinks of doing these things, but Brain protests that he isn’t a very good writer. I don’t think that matters to folks who could use some encouragement or an invitation to church, do you? C’mon Bill - let me write something important today!

There are other special abilities I have. I can give to others (Prov 31:20). I can shake hands, indicating friendship and fellowship (Galatians 2:9). Bill can fold me in prayer to indicate humility and dependence upon God in prayer. There is just a lot that I can be busy doing in the service of the King, isn’t there? An old American proverb says “idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” I don’t much like it when Bill isn’t using me for good things - and I’m sure your hands are the same way. What good thing can you find for your hands to do today?