Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.

Matthew 12:13

What does it feel like when someone tells you to stretch out your withered hand?

The withered hand that has stay clamped at your side for so long.

It feels weird to unwind your fingers and stretch out the hand in a way that it hasn’t for so long. Why would someone tell you to do something so painful? Doesn’t Jesus know that my withered hand feels the best when it stays right where it is. I don’t move it because it hurts when I stretch it out. It feels uncomfortable.

Why wouldn’t Jesus meet me where I am instead of requiring me to reach to him?

I don’t have the answer as to why he may require us to do hard things in order to find the kind of life he has for us but the miracle is that if we stretch toward him in obedience, we will find what he has been trying to give us all along-wholeness.

All I know is the end result for the man with the withered hand, is that he was made whole and I believe that is going to happen for you, too.