Jonah's Predicament
I think we have all found ourselves in hard places in our lives, and we had to ask ourselves, "How did I get here?" Jonah is the prime Biblical example of this situation. He found himself in the sea in the belly of a great fish for 3 days and 3 nights. (Jonah 1:15,17) He may have thought he was doing the right thing, until this happened, but I doubt it. I think he knew he was rebelling against God the whole time. However, he may have thought he could get away with running from God. The Lord proved to Jonah, once and for all, that is always impossible. I wonder if we have learned this same lesson yet.
We may not end up in a huge fish for 3 days, but God can and will work us into a corner from which we cannot extract ourselves. I like to see it as a chess game that we play with God. He lets us make our moves, but He is so wise that He can get us in check, no matter what we do. When that happens, we either repent and submit, or we receive the consequences of our actions and rebellion. Jonah knew what God wanted him to do, and we know what we should do from God's Word, the Bible. Jonah went the opposite direction from Nineveh, and we can try to run from God. If you look at the pagans in this account, they were more spiritually correct than Jonah, and we can have a more pagan attitude than the unbelievers around us, as believers. The solution is very simple. Listen to the Lord as we read His Word, hear it taught, and as we pray. Then, whatever He says, do it in His way and in His power. If will will simply obey Him, we will not get in an impossible predicament, because He will be with us to empower us and guide us.
#NHBaptistdotorg
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jonah 2-4.
We may not end up in a huge fish for 3 days, but God can and will work us into a corner from which we cannot extract ourselves. I like to see it as a chess game that we play with God. He lets us make our moves, but He is so wise that He can get us in check, no matter what we do. When that happens, we either repent and submit, or we receive the consequences of our actions and rebellion. Jonah knew what God wanted him to do, and we know what we should do from God's Word, the Bible. Jonah went the opposite direction from Nineveh, and we can try to run from God. If you look at the pagans in this account, they were more spiritually correct than Jonah, and we can have a more pagan attitude than the unbelievers around us, as believers. The solution is very simple. Listen to the Lord as we read His Word, hear it taught, and as we pray. Then, whatever He says, do it in His way and in His power. If will will simply obey Him, we will not get in an impossible predicament, because He will be with us to empower us and guide us.
#NHBaptistdotorg
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jonah 2-4.