Tag Archives: Jonah

NINEVAH OR BUST

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Jonah  1:1-3  Where or what is your Ninevah?  Where or to what has God called you?  Are you deliberately saying no to God?  Is your allegiance or agenda focused on something or someone else?

Jonah was a true believer.  Until the point of being told to go to Ninevah he had followed God in his life, career, and actions.  But this was just too much.  Jonah was loyally attached to his country and was more than willing to do and say whatever God wanted as long as it related to his own thoughts.   God was saying, look, Jonah, Amos and Hosea are already doing a really good job of getting the job done in Jerusalem, I need you to go to Ninevah and get the job done there.  Of course the rest of the story is really well-known.  But…

What is our story?  What is God calling/telling us to do that we are saying, look God, am I the only one who can do this particular thing right now, find someone else?  Not to sound defeatist, but He does get what He wants.  Will we be one of those who misses the blessings of obedience because the call is more than we can handle?

Look at Proverbs 3:5-6.  When we take the time to honor God and His Word, He directs us in the way we should go.  He does not give us directions to do things He can’t handle, but He wants us to know Him and follow through on what He wants of us. 

Proverbs 35-6

Father in Heaven, Creator of all that was is and is to come, give me an all-consuming desire to know Your Word so well that in any life situation I know the path to take.  I lift this prayer in the precious name of Jesus – make it so.

Do-overs

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God, in His great mercy, gives us a second chance, a third chance, a fourth chance, and more…

God is always willing to let us try again. God not only forgives He gives the opportunity to try again.

David and Paul and Moses were murderers…

Noah and Lot were drunks…

Rahab and Tamar were prostitutes…

Jonah was disobedient, hesitant, reluctant, and fearful…

Naomi and Martha were whiners…

All of them were forgiven, given mercy. They were allowed to try again.

David asked for forgiveness (Psalm 51) and our merciful God said, I can still use you!

Rahab did what she promised and God not only saved her and her family, at the fall of Jericho, but gave her a place in the lineage of Christ. (Joshua 2 and 6)

Jonah was so afraid to do what God had told him to do that he went the opposite direction and was swallowed by a whale. He single-handedly saved the people of an entire city! (Jonah)

Jesus told Martha to quit whining and follow the example of her sister Mary. (Luke 10:38-42)

And that’s just a few of the do-overs in God’s word. He still gives His forgiveness, mercy, and grace. He knows we’re not perfect. We often miss the mark. But He forgives and forgives and lets us start over and over and over…

What a Mighty God we serve!

Running From Mercy – Book Review

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Jonah didn’t get it.  Like us, Jonah thought he was in charge, he could control his life, he knew what was good or not so good for him.  What he didn’t realize was this was not about him. pp. 28

How many times have you read this story?  What is the first thought that comes to your mind when you see the name Jonah?  I’d bet it’s the fish.  But you know what? Jonah is not about the whale.  It’s not about what’s going on inside the fish.  It’s about what’s going on inside of Jonah.  Surprised at that?  I was.  We want it to be about the whale because we don’t want to face our own fickleness which is so much like Jonah’s.

Am I saying we’re fickle Believer’s?  Yes, I am.  When life is going as planned (by us) and we’ve achieved a measure of success (Jonah was a known prophet.) we can start believing we can control our own lives and destiny.  We can’t!  That’s part of what this story is about.  Jonah had to learn (the hard way) that once he committed to being God’s servant it was no longer about him.  It’s all about God’s mercy! ALL!  Even for someone as fickle as Jonah.  Someone who thought he had it all together.  Someone who knew God intimately, heard His voice, helped others understand Him.

What Jonah didn’t recognize in himself was his sinful nature.  He thought everyone else was sinful. (i.e., the Ninevites) He certainly didn’t want to be in contact with that kind of sin.  So he ran away.  He didn’t get that you can’t run away from God.  But he certainly tried.

We all know that God is the God of many chances.  When He sets His sights on one of us He never gives up.  That’s how I see the story of Jonah.  God would not give up!  From the pit (in the hold of the boat) to the prison (in the belly of the whale) to the palace (maybe the home of Shalmaneser lll) God pursued him.

I’ve studied the book of Jonah several times, with different authors, and let me say this is the first time I saw myself in this Old Testament parable.  I’ve never grown tired of this story and I hope I never will.  God will continue His pursuit of you and me.  My fervent prayer is we will hear Him and respond so we don’t end up in a giant fish.

Powerful words in Running from Mercy by Anthony J. Carter:

…He is not going to stop until He gets you.  Goodness and mercy shall pursue you all the days of your life (Ps. 23:6).  pp. 48

God keeps his appointments and has every intention of making sure we do too. pp. 57

If you have people in your life who love you enough to talk to you about your sin, don’t cut them off.  Don’t shut them down.  Don’t blame them.  They are the grace of God to you.  pp. 87

In every church gathered in this world today, people are either changing the gospel, or the gospel is changing them… We must not seek to change God’s Word but seek to be changed by it.  pp.106

I highly recommend this book.  It’s a life changer!

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Broadman Holman/Lifeway Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Life Interupted

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Jonah and the Whale in the Jami' al-tawarikh (c. 1400), Metropolitan Museum of Art

Jonah and the Whale in the Jami’ al-tawarikh (c. 1400), Metropolitan Museum of Art

Have you noticed that when life is going smoothly something happens to interrupt?  It can be something small like the phone ringing when you’re trying to finish a project.  It can be something much larger like a life-threatening disease or accident, severe weather (blizzard, tornado, earthquake), birth, death, loss of a job…  When you start getting a case of the ‘why me’ syndrome give some thought to these lives that were interrupted by God Himself.

Moses             2 forty year visits to the desert

Noah               Stop, drop and build a boat on dry land

Abraham         Leave everything and travel to an unknown location

Sarah              Baby at 90

Joseph            Dropped into a pit and sold as a slave

Mary                Suddenly pregnant

Dramatic and sudden interruptions happen all the time.  Case in point…Jonah.  He was living a great life but God wanted more for him.  So God told him to go to Ninevah.  Jonah wasn’t having any of that.  That city was known as the ‘Sin City’ of that era.  So, Jonah decided to run to another place.  Really!?  Did he really think he could hide from God?  Yes, he did.  While on that journey, in the opposite direction, the ship he was on was hit with a threatening storm.  Those on board determined it was Jonah who was causing the problem, so they threw him overboard.  We know the rest of the story…

Let’s look at this from a different angle.   This is a story of many miracles.  The first two are in verse one.

Jonah 11

First – God spoke!

Second – God allowed a person to hear His voice!

When He allows one of His creation to hear His voice it’s a huge privilege.  We often hear His voice and don’t recognize it.  The difference with us and Jonah is he knew exactly Who was speaking and choose not to obey.

Then, how do we know we’re hearing God?  How do we know He’s interrupting us?  Have you ever been listening to a speaker and the words seem just for you?  Have you been reading the Word and it’s speaking to your heart?  Henry Blackaby says we hear God through His Word, prayer, other Christians, worship, and life circumstances.  God talks to us often through the Holy Spirit living in us and He expects us to listen.

When we hear God what are we to do?  Easy answer, yet hard to follow through.  We’re to drop everything and listen.  He is saying I have a plan and I want you to be part of it.

The interrupted life is not always the big events I mentioned earlier.  It can be a crying child, a husband or wife’s attention, a new friendship, an unexpected phone call, a knock on the door….  God wants us open to His voice!  Anytime!  Anywhere!

He is calling.  Are you listening?

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

Get Some Rest

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baby rest

God says on the seventh day He rested from His work(Genesis 2:2) and since we are created in His image we need rest too.  In the 23rd Psalm David said, “He makes me lie down…”  Job’s friend Jophar gives him a crumb of reassurance saying, “You will lie down without fear…” (Job 11:19).  With great wisdom Solomon wrote these words, “…when you lie down your sleep will be sweet” (Proverbs 3:24b).  Jesus recognized the need for quiet rest when he said to the disciples, “Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” (Mark 6:31)

In my career as a teacher and principal I learned just how important rest was.  Long hours and a great deal of stress do not help anyone’s health.  Burning the candle at both ends, ends up with nothing when the flames have consumed all the wax.  I finally came to my senses and retired early.  The job was consuming me and I heard the Spirit clearly say this is NOT what I want for you.  You see, even though I prayed every morning that I would keep Him close all day, when I walked through the school doors I quit focusing on Him and started focusing on kids, teachers, parents and all the issues and stress a high poverty, inner city, school brings.  I ended up quite ill from lack of rest, poor diet, and high stress.  When my awesome husband was hospitalized and in a chemically induced coma for 20 days from a Traumatic Brain Injury I had much time to pray, think, and reflect. The conclusion–my career was killing me.  Once the decision was made, a calmness came over me that I had not known before.  I knew without question this was exactly what God wanted.  I needed adequate rest and He already knew this was the only way I was going to get it.  Praise God! I listened! and rested!

God’s word says in the 23rd Psalm “…He makes me lie down in green pastures,…”  He doesn’t just suggest that we rest He makes us rest.  He created us and He knows what we need.  We have to pay attention and not try to do it our own way.  Remember what happened to Jonah?  God said go to Ninevah and say to them what I want you to say.  What did Jonah do?  He did it his way, ran away, jumped ship and ended up in the stinky belly of a whale.  When God says do it He expects that from those who say “Oh, God, You are my God”.  Now that’s not the end of the story.  God told Jonah, after he got to Ninevah, to walk the city, proclaim His word and then sit on the hill and rest.  There’s that word again.  REST!  He’s serious about it!

Heavenly Father, thank You! for making me aware.  You deserve my total, rested attention.  I want to do that.  Make my life more and more about You.  In Jesus Name make it so!

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