I am Jonah

I have to admit.......I used to think of Jonah as a colorful character with a unique and far-out story that made the Old Testament more interesting, but I saw no correlation to my life. 

Recently, that all changed dramatically. I had the privilege of participating in a Bible study at Amy Dunavants home, with some dear sisters. I had taken fair warning...the study was called 

                                            'Jonah. Navigating a Life Interrupted.' 

                                

Somehow I had a hunch it applied to me......and sure enough.....by the time we got started, my life had just been interrupted - by God opening a door for my oldest son to go to House of Hope Orlando for a season. I knew I had a choice to make - follow where God was leading and trust His heart, or fight kicking and screaming (on the inside) and take the route that I wanted God to go in - which was not so drastic! 

"After all, why would He want Austin in Florida, when his family lived in Virginia?"

Here are some thoughts on Jonah that have changed my entire viewpoint! I will use this children's book for illustration purposes......

Now, lets get this straight. The only thing we know about Jonah, prior to reading his story, comes from  2Kings 14:25, where Jonah is briefly mentioned as being a prophet of God. He seems to have been called primarily as a prophet to his own people, Israel. There are indicators that he had a fairly decent life, maybe even comfortable...........THEN 'the Word of The Lord came to Jonah', asking him to do something drastic! He asked Him to leave his home and familiar surroundings, travel approximately 500 miles East to a large city, full of ruthless, violent, wicked people who also happened to be enemies of God's Chosen People, Israel! 

"Seriously, God? That makes no sense!! Not to mention....it freaks me out! I am happy with my life, the familiarity of my surroundings, the place I have among Your people. My future was laid out right here in my hometown! I am serving You here......right where I am! You didn't really mean to mess up my plans like that, right......right??"

Wow! How many times have I done that??? Especially in the last few years!! 

"God.....You can't be serious!! What You are asking of me makes no sense! Not to mention................ - it freaks me out!! And seriously, God, I am happy with my life, the familiarity of my routine, the place I have among lifelong friends! And truly, I am sure that the future I had mapped out for myself is one that You would be happy with. After all, I am serving You where I am, right......right?" 

So he left. Not only did he leave....he paid fare on a boat that was headed to Tarshish - the edge of civilization at the time - and about 2,000 miles the opposite direction from Ninevah! Hmmm.....

So......maybe I'm not quite that drastic. But what about my heart? Jonah would have been just as disobedient by staying in his hometown when God was calling him out! The story might have looked different....maybe he wouldn't have appeared quite as foolish, because of course, if he had stayed in his hometown...there would have been no boat....no storm.....no great fish.......but you can bet God would have used something else. 

Lets take a minute to think about what was happening in Jonah's heart. He was a prophet, right? So He was used to hearing God's call, in whatever form God chose to speak to him. Wasn't he used to doing God's bidding and seeing the amazing results? It would seem so. Wasn't he used to being a significant tool God used in the life of His Chosen People? So why the hesitancy?

But for some reason......and there are lots of 'good, logical, understandable reasons'........Jonah saw this particular call as an Interruption of His Own life and plans, rather than a Divine Intervention from a loving God. He could not see that God was planning something Big! Something of Eternal Significance!

How can Jonah sleep through a great wind and a storm so mighty that it threatened to tear the ship apart? I don't know, but I do know this........at the times when I have been trying to ignore the Still, Small Voice......there is a different kind of focused closing up of my mind........sometimes it takes a storm to shake me out of it.

So God used someone else to wake Jonah up. Someone that didn't even have a relationship with Him!

I find it interesting that Jonah was willing to place others in a dangerous position to further his own purpose of going somewhere against the will of God. How many times have I been willing to allow something that hurt other people....maybe my family......in order to help me get where I'm going? Even if its not somewhere God wants me to be going....or doing......or staying? When I feel desperate to do things in my own strength, I definitely have found my brain fuzzing up, and other people come second. 

The pagan sailors he was endangering seem to have more compassion for him, than he does for them. 

                                                      A calm sea. Wow! Think about it!

        What a testimony to the pagan sailors of how Great was the God that Jonah served! How many times has God used even my disobedience to reveal how Amazing He is? And here is where it gets really interesting.......

                                                   A fish arrived. A fish named "Grace".

Throwing Jonah over the side could have been the end of the story. God didn't NEED Jonah! He could have used someone else! He could have used anything else, for that matter! Maybe even a talking donkey like he used elsewhere in Scripture to deliver a message. 

But, no. This is where the kindness and mercy of our God really starts to shine through! 

                                                 A God of second chances!

                He didn't need Jonah! He WANTED Jonah!

                                                                     Just like he doesn't need me! He WANTS me.

Because His love is so much greater than my failures. Because His love has zero to do with my performance. Because His love gives me the opportunity to see Beauty created from my Mess. 

            But there is one necessary factor......and that one thing is left entirely up to me.......

                           Humbling myself. Asking forgiveness. Asking for mercy.

                                    Surrendering my plans to God. Letting them go entirely.

                And committing to follow His plans for my life even when they don't make sense. 

And God is faithful. A God of second chances. He immediately begins to fashion something beautiful from the mess we find ourselves in. Even making our Mess a part of our Message that He has asked us to share with others, to glorify Him. And.........Thanksgiving always Precedes the Miracle. 

          Jonah's Miracle was being returned alive to dry land! Second chances!!

God did a miraculous thing in saving him alive in the belly of a great fish. But do you think he had absolutely no signs of his experience? Do you think maybe he stunk just a tad? Do you think maybe his skin was a bit discolored from the gastric juices he had marinated in for 3 days? 

                            

                                                       

                             

What does it take for God to get my attention? What does it take for me to listen to His voice and choose it above my own thoughts, ideas, and plans? God is willing and able to go the extra mile to get my attention. But am I so stubborn that He has to get creative? 

                             

So he did it, finally! And possibly the signs of his experience in the fish were a validating factor in the minds of the Ninevites! Just imagine if he was standing in a group of people, sharing the message that God had spoken.....and someone says....."Hey Jonah! What happened to your face? Why is your skin so blotchy?" Hmmmm........you mean God was SO Serious about getting this message to us Ninevites that he actually used a fish to preserve the messenger? We'd better listen up! 

        

                                     

  

                                      

                                                    Second chances! Once again!

 But this time for the people who were not part of Jonah's 'in group'. People who were not God's Chosen. People, in fact who were enemies of God's Chosen, whom Jonah had reason to hate! 

                                                    What could God be thinking? 

How many times have I secretly wished God would not extend mercy beyond those people that I like, or agree with, or am comfortable with. Why? Could it be because if I and my friends are shown a mercy that others are not, it seems to validate my own viewpoint? 

Is there anything in that thought except solid, old-fashioned, full-blown, nose-in-the air Pride? 

Because I seriously think I am somehow better than others, or walking more closely with God, or for whatever reason deserve His grace when others don't? 

Doesn't that thought in itself prove that I am just as sinful as they are? 

Maybe I sin in a different way....maybe a better way? 

Is pride an acceptable sin, while the other things listed are not?

So Jonah starts telling God, "See! I told you this would happen! And it validates my running off! I knew you were a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and full of great kindness. I knew you would change your mind! 

Wow! What a problem! It is SO ANNOYING! In fact, Just go ahead and let me die! It makes me so mad to see you extend mercy and love to people who don't deserve it! 

So God lets him rant and rave......and then replied with a thought-provoking question..... 

                                                        "Are you right to be angry?"

Hmmmm.......no immediate response. From the prophet, the man chosen by God to make an Eternal Significance, not just in the lives of those living at the time, but all down through history to the present.

He had come so far...and even though he had an idea that the show might not go the way he hoped, he couldn't resist sticking around to find out. After all, it would be a sight to see. 

                              

            

So Jonah rejoiced in the special provision God gave to him. Just a bit of shade......undeserved mercy. 

But then the entitlement kicked in. And when his special blessing was no longer there, he became so angry, that he again talked of suicide.

And this is where it ends. Talk about a cliff-hanger! There are so many things I want to know! What did Jonah say to that? Did he kill himself? Did God continue to speak through him? Or was that his last chance? What happened to the people of the city? Did they continue to seek after God? 

And I find it very thought-provoking that the Wind obeyed God, the Sea obeyed God, the Fish obeyed God, the Vine obeyed God, and the Worm obeyed God. All without question.

           But what about Jonah, the one created in His image, who had a relationship with God? 

What about me?   What am I going to choose? 

Will I choose to empty myself of my own plans that I am 'doing for God' so God can fill me with His plans? 

Do I believe that the Holy Spirit is alive and active today, and that He will speak to me if I ask for guidance?

Will I rejoice when God chooses to Interrupt my Life and asks me to partner with Him?

                       Not because He needs me, but because He WANTS me.....

Will I see past my own disappointment at the Interruption, and believe God is offering me an opportunity for Eternal Significance? Even if just in my own family. 

Will I do the HARD thing, knowing that in most cases, the HARD thing and the RIGHT thing are the SAME thing? (When was the last time Satan asked me to move out of my Comfort Zone? Never!)

Will I live a life of compassion towards others, so that I rejoice as Gods mercy is extended to those who don't deserve it? 

Will I see myself as also undeserving, or think I am somehow more righteous? 

In the end, will people wonder, what really was in my heart, was it surrendered to God? Or was it really still more about validating me? MY thoughts, MY viewpoints, MY friends, MY service to God.......

                  Am I a Jonah? Will I continue to be a Jonah? What about you?