"Palms Up"

I have always loved reading. Sometimes I’ll go through little spurts of reading constantly and wonder why I ever stopped. Other times I’m just busy. Between school and work and normal teenager things to do, it’s hard to find a spare hour to read a book. No matter what kind of book it is, I love reading it.  

 I was in a time where I was constantly reading, but I ran out of books. I posted on Twitter that I was looking for interesting books to read and my friend Bryce was the first to respond. He reminded me about a book I wanted to read for the longest time called Love Does by a man named Bob Goff.

            It wasn’t really Bob’s writing that kept me going, it was the crazy stories about his life that are both incredibly encouraging and unbelievable. He caught my attention with his first story about an adventure he went on with his friend Randy. Every story Bob told impacted me a little bit differently. Some made me want to be a better friend, others were just funny, and some helped me to understand who I really am. One of them helped me see a huge weakness of mine, which is anger. I personally like to call it defensiveness. It takes me a lot to get angry or even frustrated, but when it happens I definitely don’t take it the right way. I’ve been noticing this pattern a lot recently and trying to fix it. A story Bob Goff put in his book made me notice that I really did need to change and gave me a tip to help me out in fixing myself.

            He calls the chapter in his book “palms up”. Bob is a lawyer, so he deals with a lot of angry people. He says that when his clients go up to take the stand for questioning he tells them to sit with their hands on their knees and their palms facing the bottom of the table. The point he is basically trying to make is no one can be angry with their palms up. Next time you feel angry, try it. You’ll find that in the right mindset it’s a very good way of controlling yourself.

            I don’t think being “palms up” when I’m angry is enough though. I think that to live my life palms up means to constantly be surrendered to what God has planned for my life. Bob says he got this idea from Jesus. If you think about it, Jesus was always palms up. Never once did he fight back, not even when he very easily could have. He just took it because he loved even the people who were persecuting him.

            I came to this conclusion in my life somewhat recently, so it’s still in its trial period. So far I have been faced with several instances where I could have easily fought back, but I chose to sit palms up and came out of it more victorious than I would have felt if I won World War III. I’m slowly learning that it’s better to be vulnerable than it is to constantly have my guard up against everybody who I think is out to get me.

            Living a “palms up” kind of life is not a one-time thing, either. It’s waking up every morning and saying “Okay God, I get that you have something bigger for my life. Don’t let me get in the way of it.” It’s not easy and it’s really not even that fun, but it’s more than worth it. Every day is a successful day when I find myself living it palms up. Palms up is living a life that’s satisfying, whether I have the best day of my life or the worst day of my life. It’s a beautiful thing, and I’ve seen beautiful things in the past living life like that. It’s good to have a reminder every once in a while, because I forget having control over my life is not as good as God having control over my life. So, I’m learning, but I know that I have never once and never will walk alone, even if I do decide to engage in World War III.