Both Monica Richter and Hope Morrison are in a heap of trouble for things they did or did not do. Will they face the consequences, trusting God to take care of them, or will they run away?How About You?
Have you ever ran from your problems instead of faced them because you were afraid of what was going to happen?
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If that is you, you are not alone. Both Monica Richter and Hope Morrison chose to run away in this episode when it looked like they were going to get in trouble. But they aren't the only ones who have ever run from consequences. This type of hitting the road dates back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve hid from God after they disobeyed.
The Lord God called to Adam, 'Where are you?' reads Genesis 3:9. He [Adam] replied, 'I heard you so I hid. I was afraid
' Adam and Eve knew that eating the fruit in the Garden was not what God had for them, so they tried to hide from God and from getting in trouble. The problem with that is that God is everywhere and knows everything. He knew what Adam and Eve did, even before they told him.
Do you ever wonder why Adam and Even ran away, or why you want to run away when things get hard? It's like Adam said in Genesis: I was afraid. But what are we afraid of? It might be that we are afraid of that uncomfortable feeling we get when people (or God) catch us in our mistakes or sins. It makes us feel ashamed.
But what is so great about having a loving Heavenly Father, is that when we mess up, we don't have to run away from our pain or problems. We can face them triumphantly because God gives us the strength to do it, and he gives us a little thing called grace. Grace is a free pass that says, "You are okay, just as you are, because I already paid the punishment for you on the cross." We might get a consequence for what we did, but God always forgives us and takes us back. He won't leave us just because we messed up.
So there is no reason to fear. Even with Adam and Eve, they did get banished from the garden for their sin, and God was very sad at the change in the world because of what they did, but he forgave them, and he even sent his Son to clean up what they did. There is nothing we can do that God won't help us through or that he won't forgive. So there is no reason to run except into the loving, forgiving arms of Jesus.