Jonah understood better than perhaps anyone we will every meet the value of a good Tic-Tac or stick of gum, when he found himself in the belly of the whale. It is through this experience that we see Jonah begin his journey with God that would take him to the 120,000 people of Nineveh. Jonah like many of us had attempted a course of action that was of his choosing and was hoping to have God’s blessing and provision. We only see where in verse 7 of Jonah 2 that Jonah turns back his thoughts once again to the Lord that he begins to see the proverbial light of day or in his case breath of fresh air.
All of us in our own way are either looking for the light of a new day of for the breath of fresh air that will once again fill our lungs with that which brings life and hope. We too often however are seeking it in the things that Jonah calls false gods that cause us to turn our backs on all God’s mercies. We must emulate Jonah’s course of action in that he offered sacrifices of worship and fulfilled all his vows, because he understood that his salvation came from the Lord.
And like Jonah we too can be spat upon the beach.
Still a lot of I's and me's in this chapter. He still seems selfish. In the end he never really get it, does he? I've been guilty of a lot of self centered faith these days. I want to "get it" but it seems no matter how many times I'm saved from the ocean I jump back in. Drowning is the only way I know. I don't want to end up like Jonah but I feel like even if God spat me up on the land and held my hand all the way I still won't "get it". I'm stuck, like Jonah, and I hope through this series I'll find a way to be free.
ReplyDelete2:2 indicates only in his distress did Jonah call out to God. Why do we wait for those times of distress to call upon God? We should be calling upon Him in good times as well as the bad. Paul reminds us to "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in ALL circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, ESV, emphasis mine).
ReplyDeleteJust came across this in a journal article I was reading. It tells of a Farside cartoon (Gary Larson, creator). It shows Jonah walking into his house and his wife greeting him. Jonah is bedraggled as you can imagine after his ordeal. His wife says to him, "Three days late, smelling like a fish, and what tale have I got to swallow this time?"
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