Lazy Hands
Monday, August 19, 2024
Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. Prov. 10:4, NIV.
After an automobile accident in 1972, I missed my freshman year of high school. But I loved the physical therapy I had to take, and during that year I worked so hard that my therapist told me he needed a rest! You see, I knew the harder I worked, the sooner I'd walk out of there and back to school.
Nobody told me I had a badly damaged spinal cord. It probably wouldn't have mattered anyway, because I was very stubborn. I remember thinking that a broken neck is like a broken arm or leg. They heal, and everything gets back to normal. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
The next year I went back to school—but not walking. I'd regained feeling and a little movement, however, on my left side. I had begun my life right-handed, but now I was an unwilling southpaw. I could sign my name, mark T or F, circle multiple-choice answers, borrow classmates' notes, and take essay exams orally. Did I really need to learn to write?
Yes, according to my English teacher. Mr. Jones told our class we had to write a one-page essay a day. I thought I'd get an extra 10 minutes to read, study, or whatever. Not so. When I said I couldn't write without a table, he said to use his desk. And when I said I couldn't write a page, he told me to compose three or four lines. I couldn't talk my way out of this one. So I wrote and I wrote—and I hated it. If Jones and I hadn't been friends, I don't know how things would have turned out.
With Jones's discipline, the care he had for me, and God's continuing gift of healing, I began writing with my left hand. If God hadn't cared about my writing, and Jones hadn't allowed God to use him, it's highly unlikely I'd be sharing this with you today.
I know that we can all do more than we think we can, if we don't give up, and we give God a chance to work out His will for us in our lives.
Have you been putting off learning a skill or doing something you've never done before because it's hard work? Why not start today to put in the extra effort needed for God to work out His will in your life?
After an automobile accident in 1972, I missed my freshman year of high school. But I loved the physical therapy I had to take, and during that year I worked so hard that my therapist told me he needed a rest! You see, I knew the harder I worked, the sooner I'd walk out of there and back to school.
Nobody told me I had a badly damaged spinal cord. It probably wouldn't have mattered anyway, because I was very stubborn. I remember thinking that a broken neck is like a broken arm or leg. They heal, and everything gets back to normal. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
The next year I went back to school—but not walking. I'd regained feeling and a little movement, however, on my left side. I had begun my life right-handed, but now I was an unwilling southpaw. I could sign my name, mark T or F, circle multiple-choice answers, borrow classmates' notes, and take essay exams orally. Did I really need to learn to write?
Yes, according to my English teacher. Mr. Jones told our class we had to write a one-page essay a day. I thought I'd get an extra 10 minutes to read, study, or whatever. Not so. When I said I couldn't write without a table, he said to use his desk. And when I said I couldn't write a page, he told me to compose three or four lines. I couldn't talk my way out of this one. So I wrote and I wrote—and I hated it. If Jones and I hadn't been friends, I don't know how things would have turned out.
With Jones's discipline, the care he had for me, and God's continuing gift of healing, I began writing with my left hand. If God hadn't cared about my writing, and Jones hadn't allowed God to use him, it's highly unlikely I'd be sharing this with you today.
I know that we can all do more than we think we can, if we don't give up, and we give God a chance to work out His will for us in our lives.
Have you been putting off learning a skill or doing something you've never done before because it's hard work? Why not start today to put in the extra effort needed for God to work out His will in your life?
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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