Throw Me

Do you ever find yourself reading God’s Word and feel the tug to look deeper into what you’re reading?

That’s how this post came into existence.

I can tell you just by experiencing the past weeks of preparing this post, it is always worth your time to dig into that prompting.

I am so excited to share what He’s graciously opened my eyes to in His Word!

Let’s dig into a small portion of Psalm 32.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” Psalm 32:8 (ESV)

As I read the word “teach”, I felt God’s stirring in my heart to look deeper into what He’s saying.

So, I conveniently went to my pastor-husband and he showed me how to look into the Hebrew words of this verse properly.

And as I researched, my jaw dropped in awe of how intentionally God wants to lead us.

The word used for “teach” here in Hebrew is “yara” or “yarah”. And “yara” means to throw, cast, or shoot.

This meaning paints a completely different picture than sitting down and taking notes next to our Bibles.

There is absolutely importance and a constant place for that form of learning, and God says that Himself through telling us He will instruct us earlier in the verse.

So, we need to diligently take the time to sit at His feet and learn from Him as His students and children.

But the type of teaching He includes in this verse through the word “yara” is speaking to a different type of guidance.

It can be read, “I will instruct you and throw you in the way you should go”.

Teaching us by throwing us.

There comes a time when we have to be willing to be thrown by God without knowing every detail of what’s going to happen- in the simple, confident trust that God knows what He’s doing. And because of that, we are choosing to be thrown by capable Hands.

Thrown into surroundings and callings that we would not choose to walk into ourselves.

Thrown into situations that we don’t know how the landing is going to work out.

JJ is our second son, and so when he was really little we naturally treated him how we learned Ace liked to be treated. Ace is a thrill-seeking, daredevil who welcomes any kind of play that involves flying through the air, flipping over, and balancing over giggle-worthy heights.

We quickly learned JJ is not this way.

He much prefers to feel in control at all times. He’s always up for a good time, but draws the line well before Ace did.

Like any loving daddy does with his baby, Matt used to try to throw him up in the air for fun! But, JJ would grip his little fingers so tightly to Matt’s arms that he would never let go long enough to let Matt throw him in the direction he wanted to.

His little legs and back end flew up in the air, but his hands were still gripping tight to Matt’s arms and wouldn’t budge. He’d hold on so tightly that Matt would have little finger marks on his upper arms after putting him back down!

JJ giggled with glee and thought the game was fun and exciting, but he was missing out on actually experiencing what Matt was trying to do with him.

This picture came to mind as God opened my eyes that there are times when He is trying to throw me into the direction He knows I should go, but I don’t trust Him enough to ever let myself be thrown.

And as a result, I’m missing out on what He has for me.

Being willing to be thrown by God is trusting that His Hands are strong enough and will catch us as we follow Him as our only safety net.

If we whole-heartedly want God to guide our steps and to follow His direction for our lives, sometimes that will mean being thrown.

Not by the chaos of this world or the flippant rollercoaster of our emotions, but thrown by the Hands of God who knows what you’re capable of in light of what He’s capable of.

JJ was never outside of the safety of his daddy. Matt would never throw JJ up in the air and then turn around and leave him to figure out his own landing.

Why not?

Because Matt wasn’t throwing his child up in the air based on JJ’s ability to fly or catch himself, but rather based on Matt’s own ability to catch him.

In the same way, we don’t need to be hesitant or worried about what God is going to throw us into when we let Him because He’s not guiding us based on our own ability to conquer whatever comes our way.

He’s guiding us based on His ability.

Can we trust that truth and give ourselves to be thrown by Him into where we don’t see how it’s all going to turn out?

This is a decision we have to intentionally make: to loosen our grip and allow God to throw us in the way we should go.

We are in no way stronger than God.

God has a way of throwing us into things whether we willingly choose it or not, just like JJ wasn’t overpowering Matt so that he couldn’t throw him. Matt could easily pry off JJ’s little grip so that he would go up in the air.

But, that wasn’t the point.

Matt wanted his child to trust him enough so that he could be thrown and enjoy it, even come to look forward to it, expectantly trusting that Matt would catch him and keep him safe.

Our Heavenly Father desires His children’s trust as well.

My prayer this week is that we take time to examine our own trust in God over our lives and ask ourselves:

Am I fearfully gripping tightly instead of allowing God to throw me in the way I should go?

Am I willing to be purposefully, lovingly thrown by my trustworthy Father before I know how I’m going to land, knowing that God already has it under control?

Can I go into tomorrow saying, “Throw me, God”?

From one of His children to another,

Christi