A Life Worthy

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…yeppers.

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 stuck 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 Thursday, 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 1:8-9).

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 Tuesday.

The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take note of us, and we will not perish (Jonah 1:6).

It’s kind of embarrassing when the pagan does it better than you do. This captain doesn’t know the One True God. He doesn’t understand His power, or His love, or His mercy. His experience of gods (or what he calls “gods”) is that they are fickle and unreliable.

But he knows that this is not the time to sleep. 

This is the time to act.

And he knows that this storm is beyond his power to survive without help.

This makes me think of a Keith Green song from back in the day. It is called “Asleep in the Light,” and some of the lyrics go like this:

Do you see, do you see all the people sinking down.

Don’t you care, don’t you care, are you going to let them drown?

God’s calling, and you’re the one, but like Jonah you run…

The world is sleeping in the dark that the Church just can’t fight

‘Cause it’s asleep in the light.

How can you sleep, Beloved? Get up and call on your God.

Happy Friday

All the sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god.  And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship (Jonah 1:5).

What a sad picture.

Frantic men, faced with a problem that was way beyond them.

Calling out to gods that are not God.

Attempting to solve a spiritual crisis by worldly means.  Hurting themselves because worldly wisdom says it will help.  Because that’s all they know.

That used to be us, Beloved.

Sometimes, it still is.

I’m going to avoid the “Storms of life” metaphor.  It’s already in your head anyway. Let me just remind you of this: You know the false gods you called on in the past, and you know they were powerless.  As for fixing things yourself…well…you remember how that worked out.

But you are no longer that person. Now, you know who to cry out to.  You know who can rescue you. And you know that Pride is the only thing keeping you from calling for help.

Pride, threatening to drag you to the bottom of the metaphoric ocean.

Throw that nasty little piece of cargo overboard and call out to Him, Beloved.

He’s waiting for you.

Happy Wednesday.

I’m taking a brief break from the land of Corinth. Are you up for visiting Nineveh with me?

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…?”

Because…you know…human.

Beloved, as we head into this week, let’s try a little experiment.. Let’s pray that God would use us—no strings attached.  However, wherever and 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.