#124: Embrace

Embrace: it is a hug with a purpose. It is more intense; it comes with great emotion and offers great relief. A hug is a comforting touch, but an embrace has the ability to transfer restoration, comfort and spiritual healing between the giver and the receiver. It is a mechanism that has a way of delivering strength to an individual that is depleted, or it can deliver comfort to one who is hurting.

Restore someone with an embrace:

For Naomi, the embrace was restoring and nourishing. She had turned her back on her homeland and her people in search of something better. Life took an ugly turn and she was left destitute, windowed, and in a strange land. After the death of her husband and sons, she returned to her homeland humiliated, shamed and carrying the wounds of past decisions. When Ruth, her daughter-in-law remarries and has a son, Naomi felt belonging and acceptance again. She had a home and a family to which she could belong. She was no longer an outcast.

Ruth 4:15-16 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him. And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.

Holding that new baby boy in her arms and embracing him brought a wave of redemption over her. She finally was whole again.

Comfort someone with an embrace:

Times in life can become very dramatic and chaotic that an embrace can be the thing that lets you know that everything is going to be ok. It has the power to transfer great reassurance.

In Acts 19, Paul and some disciples were in Ephesus and their presence was creating quite a stir. Demetrius, a silversmith who makes silver shrines for the goddess, Diana, was threatened by their presence and their message. Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen started a great stir among the people of the city such that two disciples were caught up in the riot and rushed into the theater where they were to be killed. These two men were the object of their wrath and they were surrounded by thousands of angry men.

Paul wanted nothing else but to rush in and help his friends, but it was not safe. He felt the urgency of the situation but there was nothing he could do but wait and pray.

Acts 19:30 And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.

Thankfully, the town clerk was able to speak to the mob and reason with them. Eventually the two men were released physically unharmed but presumably left frazzled and shaken.

Acts 20:1 And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia.

With that embrace, Paul quieted their panicked spirit. That one embrace soothed their tormented spirit and said, “It’s ok now, my friend, it is over.”

Heal someone with an embrace:

Paul was getting ready to depart and many people came to hear him speak one last time. The house was full and Paul preached until midnight. Due to the crowd, a young man named Eutycus, perched himself in a third-story window. Unfortunately, he fell asleep and fell down from his perch which killed him.

Acts 20:10 And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.

Acts 20:12 And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.

An embrace can be healing. While Paul had been given a special touch from the Lord which allowed him to physically heal wounded bodies, today your embrace can be spiritually or emotionally healing when someone is suffering. An embrace is emotionally healing. The energy from someone’s embrace seems to speak to the illness in your spirit and pushes it out of the way for a moment.

Share sorrow with an embrace:

An embrace can be the final touch and final good-by. Paul was about to begin his final journey to Jerusalem. It was a difficult time for Paul and for the people around him.

Acts 20:36-38 And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.

Sorrow was embracing sorrow. It was a painful time, but when two souls come together that are experiencing the same sorrow and join in an embrace, it makes it so no one is alone in their pain.

You physically can’t embrace yourself. When you are depleted, needing courage, or encouragement you have to get it from another source. Let someone embrace you. The arms around you are delivering a touch from the Lord. Let it transfer the energy of comfort, restoration and spiritual healing.

HAVE A CONVERSATION FACE TO FACE WITH YOUR LORD

Lord, when has there been a time when I needed an embrace?

Lord, who have you sent to embrace me in a time of need?

Lord, thank you for an embrace when I needed it most. Thank you for sending people into my life to be your arms and deliver comfort.