30 Hugs as a Weapon

I was talking to Jesus.

He interrupted me with a vision.

As I watched, I saw me, running to Him to give him a hug.

Then it was over…

The Back Story

God says a lot about fighting, fortresses and general protection.

Isaiah 54:17

¹⁷     no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
    and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
    and their vindication^[a] from me, declares the Lord.”

Psalm 91

¹ Whoever rests in the shadow of the Most High God
    will be kept safe by the Mighty One.
² I will say about the Lord,
    “He is my place of safety.
He is like a fort to me.
    He is my God. I trust in him.”

³ He will certainly save you from hidden traps
    and from deadly sickness.
⁴ He will cover you with his wings.
    Under the feathers of his wings you will find safety.
    He is faithful. He will keep you safe like a shield or a tower.
⁵ You won’t have to be afraid of the terrors that come during the night.
    You won’t have to fear the arrows that come at you during the day.
⁶ You won’t have to be afraid of the sickness that attacks in the darkness.
    You won’t have to fear the plague that destroys at noon.
⁷ A thousand may fall dead at your side.
    Ten thousand may fall near your right hand.
    But no harm will come to you.
⁸ You will see with your own eyes
    how God punishes sinful people.

⁹ Suppose you say, “The Lord is the one who keeps me safe.”
    Suppose you let the Most High God be like a home to you.

¹⁰ Then no harm will come to you.
    No terrible plague will come near your tent.
¹¹ The Lord will command his angels
    to take good care of you.
¹² They will lift you up in their hands.
    Then you won’t trip over a stone.
¹³ You will walk on lions and cobras.
    You will crush mighty lions and poisonous snakes.

¹⁴ The Lord says, “I will save the one who loves me.
    I will keep him safe, because he trusts in me.
¹⁵ He will call out to me, and I will answer him.
    I will be with him in times of trouble.
    I will save him and honor him.
¹⁶ I will give him a long and full life.
    I will save him.”

Thoughts

When God talks about spiritual armor in Ephesians, he doesn’t talk about any protection for your back. When I saw that hug I realized that my back was open to enemy attacks.

This what I wondered:

1. We are meant to face our enemy, not run from them. Greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world. We can face them with confidence. We know that David fought Goliath by facing him.
2. We are meant to fight in community – side by side (not each other). If I am fighting alongside someone and someone else is fighting alongside me, then we have greater protection being together. Gideon’s army stood side by side when they were called to a new way of fighting.
3. And sometimes we are meant to hug Jesus, trusting Him to take care of our vulnerable parts, like exposed backs… That was what I got from my vision the other day. This verse came to mind: Matthew 11:28-30 NIV “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” And “like a hen gathers her chicks” Luke 13:34 Jesus wants us to run to Him for protection.

No matter what you are faced with today, my darling. You are loved and wanted and the God of Heaven is with you, protecting you, watching over you. You can fall into the arms of your Savior, even if how you get there is by stumbling. His arms are open wide to catch you. He’s got you.

Sometimes we feel like we can’t trust Jesus because our back is exposed. We want to turn around in our humanness (not a calling), and face our battle. But at times, Jesus is calling us to purposely give Him a hug, so we can walk out our faith, exposing our back to the enemy as a taunt. This is where Jesus gets to bring the enemy to its knees in your life because He is responding to your faith. Your hug for Jesus is a weapon of trust and faith!