A Whole-Heart Hug

Read

Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.”

Think

There are two kinds of hugs.

The first kind is the one-arm side hug. You kind of lean in, pat someone on the back once, and you're done. It's the hug you might give somebody you just met.

Then there's the other kind. The big bear hug. Both arms. Squeeze tight. Maybe you even lift someone off the ground! That's the hug you give your grandma when you haven't seen her in months.

The bear hug is an all-the-way hug. You're not holding anything back.

Trusting God with all your heart is a lot like that bear hug. And this week, a woman in Zarephath showed us what that looks like.

The widow didn't have much. Just a handful of flour and a little oil. She could have given God a one-arm-hug kind of trust. “Okay, God, I'll trust you a little bit. But I'm keeping my flour, just in case.”

Instead, she gave God her whole heart. She took the little she had and shared it first. She trusted that God would keep his promise. And he did! The flour and the oil never ran out.

Elijah trusted God with his whole heart too. He went where God told him to go, even when it meant eating food delivered by birds!

This month's memory verse says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” The verse doesn't say part of your heart. It says all of it.

What does that look like for a kid? It means you trust God with the things you care about most. Your family. Your friends. Your worries. You don't keep some things back and say, “I'll handle this one myself.”

It also means you can love God back with your whole heart. You can talk to him about anything. You can give him everything you've got.

God doesn't give us a one-arm-hug kind of love. He loves us all the way. He loved us so much that he sent Jesus for us!

So go ahead. Give God a whole-heart hug of trust today.

Apply

Give a bear hug – Give someone in your family a big bear hug today. Then say the memory verse together: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” Remember that God wants all of your heart, not just part of it.

Pray

God, I don't want to trust you just a little. I want to trust you with all my heart. Thank you for loving me all the way. Help me love you with everything I've got. In Jesus' name. Amen.