Open Hands

My team and I have been in Thessaloniki, Greece for the last three weeks. This month we are Unscripted so we came here with no specific ministry host or detailed plan in mind. As we prayed into “where” to go in Greece the Lord led me to 1 Thessalonians 2. We felt led to come here and minister the best we could the way Paul did to Thessalonians. We’ve done prayer walks, partnered with YWAM to help prepare spaces for incoming students, painted signs to place around the city and participated in a 32 hour prayer event called “The Burn”. 

While on a walk with my squad mate one day we started talking about life after the race. It’s a common question we’ve been getting ALL YEAR and even more now that we are closing in on 8 months overseas. As we both started to spew out multiple different options, the phrase “the world is our oyster” came out of my mouth and quickly after, “If we leave it open to God” followed. We both chuckled at the idea of not knowing what came next and moved on to a new topic. 

The next day as I was thinking about the conversation, God gave me a little more. I heard the phrase, “If we leave it open to God” replaying in my head. He reminded me of what it looks like to have closed fists. If someone says, “I have something for you, open your hands” you don’t put fists out in front of you. If you do, you can’t receive what they want to give you. Similarly, if I continue the rest of this race with closed fists and clenching onto an idea of what I THINK will come next, I won’t be ready to receive IF the Lord calls me to something different. 

“But the one who is JOINED to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him”. 

-1 Corinthians 6:17 

In the footnotes of my Bible the word “Joined” can also mean “Holds fast”. Again, the conversation I had with my squad mate and then with the Lord came to my mind. My heart was struck with the desire to hold fast ONLY to the Lord so that my spirit could become one with his. 

Easier said then done. 

We live in a society that seems to ALWAYS be planning or desiring the NEXT thing. Maybe it’s keeping up with the hottest trends, always climbing up the ladder at work or staying in relationships we know we should let go of and the list goes on. If we are “holding fast” to these things our hands cannot be open and ready to receive what God has for us. 

All of these small conversations with the Lord came at the right time this month. As a squad we are facing change faster than we imagined, we are closer to the end of this thing than the beginning and everyday on “Unscripted” life we are challenged to hold our hands open to follow what God has for us that day. 

So my question to you is, “What do you hold fast to?” “What would it look like for you to open your hands and willingly accept something new the Lord has for you?” 

It can be scary to let things go. It can be scary to let go of plans we had and still I have seen so many times this year how much sweeter things are when I leave my hands open to the Lord (again easier said than done). Because I left my hands open to God he brought me here on The World Race. I’ve traveled to 5 countries this year, experienced Him in countless ways, seen things I NEVER could’ve imagined and to think I could’ve missed out on it ALL if I’d been holding on to something else. 

My squad has about two weeks left in Greece before heading into our 8 month debrief and a NEW COUNTRY that has yet to be confirmed… (Open hands remember?) Please join me in praying that we would be a squad who lives with “Open Hands”. That we would posture our hearts to hold fast only to God and we would marvel in what kind of life that leads us into it. Pray that we’d have a steadfastness and perseverance to not clench our fist on anything and that we’d be comforted by God when we can’t see what’s coming next. 

-with Open Hands,

Cyntya