LIFT UP HANDS IN VICTORY
I was working on a faux finish that would go on the outside of a building. I was matching an existing piece and was having a lot of trouble. The pressure was mounting, and I was getting more and more fearful as the day went on. The deadline was growing closer than the possibility of a solution. I got both 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!
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. I was directed by the Lord to open my Bible to the book of Ruth. 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. Next, the Lord reminded me of a TED talk I watched on YouTube about nonverbal communication. The premise was that if a people lifted their hands in a victory pose for just 2 minutes, their blood levels of testosterone would go up and they would feel 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 if I didn’t feel more confident. I really did. I felt invigorated and even a little carefree.
It worked! I lifted up my hands as it says in the Bible, and like it was confirmed and demonstrated on the TED talk.
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 back inside 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 seemed to be reddish when we had it inside! We got out a fan deck of colors and took the piece outside to match it up, so I’m sure we’ll do better tomorrow. One thing’s for sure: I will have a better attitude, and my hands will stay lifted in victory.
Life is better with Jesus for sure and God’s kindness and mercy to me today was well appreciated. “With everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer” (Is. 54:8).
“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” (Heb. 12:11-12).
Well as it turned out, God’s mercy prevailed: I finished up the sample; the guys put it on the side of a huge building in California and the client loved it.
If you didn’t get to watch the TED talk before, here’s the link. I think it’s less than 10 minutes long. Enjoy.
Love, Carolyn
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