Magyar Egyház, 1957 (36. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1957-05-01 / 5. szám
10 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ ENGLISH SECTION CONSECRATED HANDS Mrs. Charles Krahe The Church Women’s Guilds are organized for service. How do we perform this service? With our hands — and so I would like to spend a few minutes with you thinking about hands — our hands — Consecrated hands! “Today, a wonderful thought in the dawn was given, And the though was this: that a secret plan is hid in my hand; That my hand is big — big, because of this plan Of the things He will do for the world — Using my hand!” What beautiful words these are — these words of the great Japanese Christian, Kagawa! And how inspiring the idea he presents—inspiring—and frightening, too! What an inspiring—and humbling—thought this is—the thought that God has a plan for our hands; how frightening the thought that perhaps we have not been carrying out His plan! Let us look for a moment at these hands of ours. They are just ordinary hands, aren’t they? Some thin, some fat, some work-worn, some smooth. But they look no different than they did before. What do I mean, then, when I say that God has a plan for our hands? How can we know what that plan is, and how can we go about carrying it out? You may be saying to yourself, “Well, she doesn’t mean me!I can’t do anything with my hands. I can’t make beautiful music to the glory of God, with my hands. I can’t paint great masterpieces of art that speak of His great love, with my hands. I’m just not talented in any way.” My friends, while we cannot all be great musicians or great artists (indeed, God has chosen to give to few of His children that indefinable thing which we call “genius”), He has given us all the ability to do something. Perhaps it is the ability to make a lovely and peaceful home; perhaps it is a special love for, and ability for the preparation of good food; perhaps it is just the comfort of a sweet and friendly smile. Whatever it may be, God has given us to the best of our ability for the work of His kingdom. Best of all, we do not even need the little special talent He has given us! We all have in our hands the most powerful weapons the world has ever known. There are many ways in which we can use these weapons we have. I. In our folded hands, we have the dynamite of prayer! Mr. Frank Laubach has written a wondreful little book called “Prayer — The Mightiest Force in the World”, in which he makes the starting statement that “we have enough Christian people to transform the world, right now, if only their thoughts were always on Christ’s side.” Think, for a moment, of what this means. There are enough of us, if we prayed enough, to save the world, right now— if we prayed enough! Yes, friends, prayer is the mightiest force in the world— and more things are wrought by it than this world dreams of—if we would only use it! But it is not only the big things in life for which we must pray! Yes, peace in the world, the destruction of Communism, the salvation of souls for Christ—these things are all important—and necessary—but God wants us to pray about the little things in our lives, too! Just as we want our children to tell us their everyday problems, so God wants all of us, who are His children, to go to Him with our everyday problems—the problems that vex us, and to which we can seem to find no answer. If we take those problems to our Lord in prayer, He will give us the answer—perhaps not the one we want to hear, but always the one for our greatest good. Yes, friends, we hold in our hands the dynamite of prayer— if we will only use it. II. In our hands we hold the key to Christian Service! Christian Service! What a tremendous opportunity for the furtherance of God’s Kingdom is found in those two words! And what simple things they are — the things that compose “Christian Service”! An afternoon of baby-sitting to allow a young mother to attend her church meeting, a peaceful drive along a lovely country road for the elderly gentleman or lady who lives up the street, seeing to it that that same elderly person gets to church even if it means leaving the house a few minutes earlier yourself so that you can pick them up in your car, singing in the choir, sewing for the mission box, ringing the doorbells of people who do not go to church, rolling bandages for the missionary doctors and nurses who must use the same ones over and over again because we do not send them enough— these are just a few of the things that make up “Christian Service”—and all we need are our two hands— our ordinary hands! Fun? Not always. Maybe you don’t like to do things like that. Perhaps you are saying, “Why should I spend my free time in such tedious On Mother’s Day...
