Jonah 1 & 2
“I will pay that which I have vowed…”
We’ve all done it- we have experienced the glory of God and His loving presence has rested on us, and we’ve responded…”reveal your will for my life”…”make me, mold me”…”have your way with me”….”Lord just send me and I’ll go”. How.many.times.have.we.said.these.things?
And we mean it until what He requires of us rests on the outside of our comfort zone. We want to serve God, but we don’t want to seem “odd”, be embarrassed or go against the grain in comparison to the other christians we know.
Too often, our unspoken sentiment is- “I want to serve God, but I don’t want it to require that I do stuff I don’t like to do.” HOW HUMAN OF US!!! 🙂
I see this story now very differently than I used to. Before, I perceived the belly of the big fish as punishment for Jonah’s disobedience. Now I perceive it as a manifestation of God’s love and grace. Not just for Jonah, but the people attached to His assignment.
He could’ve died…
After being thrown overboard, he could have drowned. He could have been eaten by a shark. He could have had his lungs poked and punctured by a swordfish. He could have gotten tired of fighting the currents and simply given in to the sea.
BUT….
God PREPARED a big fish to keep him safe and give him time to come to himself.
The fish didn’t digest him, but held him in its dark, dank, putrid stomach long enough for Jonah to cry out.
Gosh, he sounded like David.
Gosh, he sounded like me.
He remembered…there was a time he vowed his life- and in his repentant state and right mind, he determined again to pay the vow he made.
He’s the God of “another chance”…..
He repented, God commanded, the fish spit, and land was there. So often we think we are the ones waiting for our “next”. How interesting is the notion that everything is lined up where and how it is supposed to be and is waiting for us, our thoughts, our actions…. our obedience.. to… LINE UP with THE agenda that will save the very lives we are guarding?
I’m thirsting to be more like Him. Let that be our prayer today sisters- that He will show us every way we work against His plan for us.
#shereadstruth
Beautifully writtten and so true! Thank you for sharing!
This sounds a lot like me! I have experienced Gods presence, His glory and really a lot of who He is, but yet when I ask Him for something and He takes me outside of what I feel is comfortable, I lose it. I freak out and I complain that is He isn’t there. Wow! Convicting! Thanks for sharing this beautiful post!
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.