A Hug or a Hit?

Proverbs 3:5-6New International Version (NIV)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.[a]

    Jonah ran far away from those that hit him hard...I still smile pretty big when I hear that Jonah was the worst missionary of all time, especially because I feel like that title belongs to me, Jennifer. What's more, is the fact that Jonah was actually not a representation of bad mission work, but rather one of the greatest lessons on forgiveness and trust that all of us desperately need to learn. Poor Jonah! Stop picking on the guy that faced an enemy head on and did so after a huge bath of seaweed and whale vomit. Sadly, the sweet savory scent he carried with him was even further soured by his reality that those who might be saved were the very souls he wanted to die! Have any of you read, The Shack? Well, for those of you who understand this mind boggling book, you can appreciate how inconceivable it is to forgive a murderer, a thief, or a liar. So many missionaries set out to save those in a foreign land that need to hear the good news...but how often are those the very people that hit your hometown?
We know that we are to put our trust in God no matter the cost, but when our hearts have been hit all trust is lost...Amen?

Today is the first Sunday of Advent and yes, the baby is coming to save so let me leave you with this thought on hits and hugs...

When we lean not on our own understanding, we accept a bunch of hits...but in leaning away from our thoughts, we get to lean on His arms....We might take a hit, but there is always a hug waiting on and leaning on the everlasting arms. In reality, Jesus comes to us all to save us from our sin that Hit Him...so that in Him we can save others that have hit us.

Principle: The road is long but the path is always lit, leading us all to be able to take each hit...
So long as we know it's His arms that Hold, we will be able to tell the greatest story ever told.