I Remember

article by PAUL LIPE
opinion expressed is that of the writer

I REMEMBER, when I learned that my left hand was useful for more than just wearing a glove that matched the one on my right hand, an appendix that was extremely widely exercised to carry out a plethora of activities. This learning experience took place when I was a student in the seventh grade.

Our school included students from the first through the eighth grades. One of the activities of this institution was athletic competition between our seventh grade class and the students in the eighth grade. We had some pretty good athletes in our class and could hold our own against the older students.

It was during one of those competitions that my learning took place. We were playing the older boys in a game of baseball. I was the shortstop on our team and fairly early in the game, a boy on the other side smashed a hot grounder my way. All was well until the ball took a bad hop (that’s my story and I am sticking to it) and smashed into the thumb on my right hand instead of into my glove. The pain was excruciating – as was my embarrassment! I hurt so badly that I could not stay in the game. My thumb was swollen and very sensitive to the slightest touch. This once-active appendage was of absolutely no good in its damaged state. What was I to do? There was nothing that I could but learn to use my left hand, since it was healthy, though untrained.

My left hand never attained the dexterity of the injured and pain-racked hand it was replacing, but I managed to survive. And this survival taught me a valuable lesson – those less talented and less skilled people have much to contribute if they have the opportunity. The left hand became a good teacher for me and the lessons learned have impacted the way I view things.

I saw my left hand as an asset rather than a useless appendage. But it took an adversity to make this discovery. Is it not true that we often learn things about ourselves as the result of some calamity? Has something like this happened in your life?: there is a task that has to be done, and you are the only choice available. Suppose there is a need for someone to prepare breakfast for an important house guest. This responsibility was to be done by an experienced “chef” but she has been eliminated by a case of the flu.  This crisis puts the matter in your corner. And though you are petrified, you give it your best – and amazingly, you do the job well!

A crisis often provides us with the opportunity to put hidden or untrained talents to work. As you think about what gifts you may have lying hidden and unused, are there some that you ought to be utilizing in the work of your church? In the New Testament, the church is pictured as the body of Christ, and the Apostle Paul taught that every part of the body is important and is responsible for exercising itself! Let us each be active in putting His gift to work, even if we view ourselves as limited to our left thumb!

Sometimes, due to my advanced age and my physical limitations, I wonder if there is anything I can do to serve the Lord. After all, I am just a thumb on the left hand! Thankfully, God won’t let me play that game very long: He reminds me that it is not my thumb that matters most, but His sufficient grace. He strengthens my faith to realize that if I live by His grace I can live for His glory – the next time you feel like a thumb on your left hand, offer that thumb to God and see what He can do with it!