Broken Hands

These Broken Hands of Mine - Joe Brooks


Take a breath, I close my eyes
I am lost but try to find
What it is in this life that gives me strength enough
To fight for something more

Well, God knows my feet are aching
And I've got mountains ahead to climb

One way at a time I'll try to lend these broken hands of mine
Give me strength, be my light
One way at a time these walls will fall and fill our empty souls
Give me strength, help me guide these broken hands of mine

The sky is gray, it clouds your world
Clear the air, child, break the mould
I find a place in your heart
To build a shelter from this cold and winding road

Well, God knows you're barely standing
But you've got to carry this heavy load

One way at a time I'll try to lend these broken hands of mine
Give me strength, be my light
One way at a time the peace will grow and fill our empty souls
Give me strength, help me guide these broken hands of mine
Oh, these broken hands of mine

What if there's more
What if there's more
What if there's more than this
What if there's more out there?

One way at a time I'll try to lend these broken hands of mine
Give me strength, be my light
One way at a time the peace will grow and fill our empty souls
Give me strength, help me guide these broken hands of mine
These broken hands of mine




I don't know about you, but my hands are broken, useless, weak. But God--the Great Physician--is especially skilled at somehow using our broken hands and our messed-up lives for His ultimate glory!


You see, I just can't do it on my own. Not that I don't sometimes try. But it always ends in utter failure. The only way I can ever have the strength to do anything worthwhile in this life is through Jesus Christ alone. Without Him, my way will be dark, I'll get lost, and I'll fall.


I've been reading about the children of Israel and their journey in the wilderness. When they relied on God, everything went well--they conquered their enemies, crossed large bodies of water on dry ground, had an abundant supply of food. But there were many times when they took their focus off of the Lord and tried to make it in their own strength. Nothing but death, failure, defeat, and plagues met their foolish efforts. Then they would turn back to God and find out that they could have the victory through His strength. God would scatter the enemy, make a way, knock down walls, all kinds of stuff.


Reminds me of "Prince Caspian," the second Narnia movie. Peter was trusting in his own strength, trying to figure out a solution to all the problems. He thought he didn't need anybody's help--c'mon, he was the high king, he "had it sorted." But everything went wrong. His lofty plans came crashing down, causing many Narnians to be killed. Then, at his lowest point, he almost gave in to evil. Why? Because he thought he could do it by himself.


When he finally decided to trust his little sister and have her try to find Aslan--symbolizing God--that's when he finally became the hero he was trying to be all along. The strength he found wasn't of himself. And when he got the chance to kill Miraz, he was finally wise enough to know that he couldn't.


To me, that's a picture of our lives. When we finally quit running around trying to do it all by ourselves and start relying on God, our perspective changes, we are given the supernatural strength we need, and God can start using our broken hands to fulfill His master plan.


"God, use my broken hands, as worthless as they are, and please give me the strength to do whatever You have in store for me. I can't do this on my own; God, I need You."


JPK