Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. (Gen. 16:6)
I was playing basketball with my father and being outmuscled and belittled. Eventually, I had enough and started to walk away. That is when I felt the basketball slam into my back. I was stunned. My father had thrown the ball at me! I felt angry, hurt, and unsafe. So, I ran. I did not know where I would go, but my body instinctively told me to get away from where I was.
There are times in our lives when we need to run. Perhaps it is away from an abusive relationship. Perhaps it is away from an addiction. Perhaps it is from a new temptation. Whatever the situation, the Holy Spirit is available to tell us when it is time to run.
Eventually, I returned home, and my father and I reconciled. It wasn’t as if this was a normal occurrence. I did not grow up in an abusive home. But I knew that what had occurred was wrong, and I was not willing to sit by and let it happen.
Maybe that is what you need to do now. Maybe you need to run just to prove to yourself that you can. But when you do, be sure that you can not only run away from the situation, the sin, or the temptation, but that you can also run into the arms of your Father.
Ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to run.
Aaron Wilkinson is a member of College Wesleyan Church in Marion, Indiana, and works at Wesley Seminary. His favorite word is eucatastrophe.
© 2021 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
