Growing up Joe’s parents made most of the decisions in the household while they let him be a kid and focus on whatever kids do. Life was simple, straightforward. Whether it was a simple decision to take a shower, trim his nails, or change clothes, all were somehow made for him by his lovely parents. However, one day he became a young adult, and had to make all decisions for himself.
One day Joe woke up and decided to trim his nails. Many people had complained about him scratching them every time they shook his hands. Whichever reason it was, he was pleased to still have an accountability system even if it meant agitating friends and foes alike. Joe’s nails were being trimmed and he couldn’t care less about how he remembered to do that.
Joe grabbed the nail clippers. Instead of his left hand, he decided to go with the right-hand nails first. His right arm hadn’t fully recovered since his accident a few months back. But he could work with it, even carrying some heavy items. But his choice had more to do with someone saying something about him being predictable because he always did things the same way. Well, today Joe wanted to prove them wrong. He began with the nail on his right thumb, and he was done with the entire hand in under five minutes. Then came the left hand. As the clippers met the left thumb, his right hand was so fidgety holding the trimmers that one wouldn’t believe he was a righty. To anyone looking he seemed like a lefthanded person having trouble cutting with his right hand. But nothing could have been farther from the truth.
It took Joe exactly thirty minutes to do his entire left fingernails. When he was done he put his left hand next to his right and compared the nails on both hands. That’s when the shock came about. To him it seemed like he was a lefty because the trim on the right looked better than the one on his left fingernails. His dominant hand had lost its touch. But it did open his eyes.
Baffled, Joe sat down and glanced at his hands. It was apparent that he had been taking his left hand for granted. His dominant right hand was able to get all the glory, to be called more powerful, and to accomplish most tasks because it had the exceptional left hand supporting it. Somehow this all led Joe to ponder his relationship with God.
Not comparing his left hand with God, but taking some inspiration from it, Joe realized how the relationship between God could be likened to the hands. He got life, health, loved ones, and many other good gifts from God, yet like his right hand he took that for granted. Somehow, he thought it was his power and might, being like the dominant right hand, and forget to give the glory where it was due.
However, Joe learned an important lesson. Like the left hand that had supported his right hand, and even carried the burden of both hands while he was injured, God never gave up on him. God hopes that in these small moments, just like Joe realizing the importance of his left hand when trimming nails, we may as well realize his importance through simple and small blessings in our lives.
Finally, Joe realized that concealed in his temporary failure were seeds to succeed. He had learned to rely on his left hand only after breaking his dominant hand. Even when his right hand was healed, Joe couldn’t forget the importance of the left hand. Like Joe’s hand situation, God uses temporary failure to plant seeds for us to succeed. But first he wants us to get to know him.
Are you going to be like Joe and realize this important lesson after going through pain, or are you going to turn your life around and start noticing God in everything in your life?