A Hand that Changes Everything

He stretches out his hand. He divides what we think cannot be divided. He redefines what we thought was solid.

Moses did it. Jesus did it. Stretching out a hand at God’s command. Dividing nature, dividing family. Challenging us to see the world anew.

Unsettling? Anxiety-producing? Yes. But also leading to new life, saving us from our limited definitions of Who God is and what God can do.

We cannot sugar-coat: this truth is hard. Death and destruction stare us plain in the face from these stories. But also new life, unfathomable possibility, and the hard work of salvation.

Think of every time your heart has been divided. A break-up. A best friend lost. A family rift.

Division is painful. We long to move toward unity. Yet God can move to widen what was narrow, upend what seemed fixed, or redefine what was known. New life rushes through the broken places. We come out on the other side, astonished and changed.

Remember that God’s hand is stretched over all of us. Remember that Jesus claimed us as His sisters. These words and actions change everything.

There is nowhere we can go that God’s love hasn’t rushed ahead of us, preparing a way where there seemed to be no way.

Every division, every death, and every destruction will be healed and made whole. This is the promise we are given.

Can we come singing praise in this strange new world God is making for us? Can we follow where God leads?

God can move to widen what was narrow, upend what seemed fixed, or redefine what was known.Click to tweet

When we make the Sign of the Cross with our hand, did you know it has six separate and powerful meanings? Learn more here.

Laura Kelly Fanucci is a mother, writer, and director of a theological project on vocation. She and her husband are raising four sons and wrote a book together on grieving the loss of children, "Grieving Together: A Couple’s Journey through Miscarriage." She is the author of seven books including "Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting" and "Living Your Discipleship: 7 Ways to Express Your Deepest Calling." You can find out more about her here. She is the author of the Blessed Conversations Mystery: Behold study found here.