A Life Worthy

He said, “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.  From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”  (Jonah 2:2)

Do you remember, Beloved?

Do you remember when you called out to him?

Do you remember the pit—so dark, so deep?

The despair was palpable.

The sorrow tangible.

But he answered.

He listened.

Do you remember?

Let this be a day of remembrance, Beloved.  Drink deep of the memory.  Let it roll around in your heart.  Taste its fullness.  Then let it sink deep into your spirit, to refresh and sustain you.

Now you can look Thursday square in the eye.

Walk in confidence, Beloved.

Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm…But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights  (Jonah 1:15-17).

Was it real?  Is Scripture literal here?

Well, the theotechnical answer would be…yep.

In Matthew 12, Jesus said, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Yeah, so, apparently Jesus believed it.

That’ll work for me.

What amazes me—apart from, you know, being in a fish for three days and living to tell the tale (tail?)—is that God provided rescue in the midst of discipline.  I mean, God could have let Jonah drown—he deserved it—and then raised up someone else to preach to the Ninevites.  But God’s message of judgment, repentance, and mercy was played out in Jonah’s life before he ever even got to Nineveh.

Also worth noting is that Jonah did not experience that provision—that grace—until he accepted responsibility for his sin and stepped out in faith and obedience.  Perhaps the fish was there the entire time, but Jonah didn’t see it until he hit the water.

Last thought: did you notice that Jonah did not throw himself into the sea?  He knew what needed to be done, and he was willing, but it seems that the idea of leaping into the raging storm was a little much for him.  Spirit willing, flesh weak—that sort of thing.  I’m kinda glad about that.

It makes me think that there may be hope for us yet.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved.

They asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do?  Where do you come from?  What is your country?  From what people are you?”

He answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of Heaven, who made the sea and the land.” (Jonah 8-9)

He ran from God.

But…

He stood for God.

In the midst of the calamity that was his fault, surrounded by angry, frightened accusers pointing the finger at him, confronted by the disastrous results of his own disobedience, Jonah did not deny who he was or to whom he belonged.

Would we do as well, Beloved?

I hope so.

Happy Friday.

Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid… (Jonah 1:4-5).

The Law of Unintended Consequences.

I’m sure that Jonah wasn’t trying to put a bunch of pagan sailors in jeopardy.

I’m sure he wasn’t thinking about them at all.

He was just…running.

But when you run from God, when you deliberately put yourself outside of His will, stuff’s gonna happen.  You put yourself and others in situations that God never intended for you.  Sin is like a nuclear blast, with fallout that you can neither predict nor control.

Bottom line—your sin is not just your own.  People can get hurt because of your disobedience.

Time for a heart check, Beloved.  Are there areas in your life you need to fix, places you need to change your attitude and get obedient?

Because you know, there’s only one way to calm the storm.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

I’m taking a brief break from Philippians because it’s my blog and I can do what I want.  We’ll be back to Paul soon, but in the meantime, shall we dive into Jonah?

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

But Jonah ran away from the Lord…  (Jonah 1:1-3)

I talk a good game.

I say that I wish God would just be clear, tell me exactly what he wants of me.

And yet…

You know what I’m talking about.  You’re praying, asking for God’s guidance, and you get an answer.  A full-blown, here’s-what-I-want-you-to-do-Kid sort of answer.  You know it in your heart.

But…

It’s not the answer you wanted.

In fact, it’s totally wrong.

So you run.

Oh, you may not hop a ship to Tarshish, but you run.

Why is it that when we say “Thy will…” we usually mean, “My will…?”

Beloved, as we head into Monday, let’s try a little experiment.. Let’s pray that God would use us—no strings attached.  However, wherever, with whomever he chooses.  Let’s lay ourselves at his feet and await his command.  And then let’s follow.

Yeah, I know it’s a scary concept, but we trust him.

Right?

Happy Monday, Beloved.