On Day 19 we mentioned Noah & the Flood being one of the
3 most famous stories from the Old Testament. For the next couple days we
tackle another one . . . Jonah & the Whale (punny ain't I?). Or at least that’s how the
story has become known over the generations.
And that’s one of the things I love most about the Bible; there are SO many different lessons to be learned from each story or passage. While kids can learn about the way that God protects us from harm, even if it is in the belly of a whale, we want to look at the story in a bit more nuanced way.
Jonah was a prophet, an Old Testament speaker of truth amidst a world of lies and counterfeits. As such, he was called by God to bring this message of truth, hope, and salvation, to lost people.
In the second verse of the book, God called Jonah to go to Nineveh. Rather than listen to God, Jonah ran away. Looking back these thousands of years later, it’s easy for us to be judgmental to this action but are we any different? Haven’t there been times when God speaks into your life, either through a person or prayer or Scripture, and you just ignore it? Choosing rather to live on your own as opposed to how you know you should?
I recently heard a pastor speak for the first time in about a year after having a moral failure by way of an affair. He was apologetic and appropriately owned his sin but said something that struck me. He stated that he spent years advising other people how to avoid pitfalls of sin & identify temptations, but he couldn’t do that very thing himself. He next said that if you are struggling and in a pit of sin right now, speak to someone about it & get help; don’t just assume you can do it on your own.
Because of the pattern of temptation (we learned about that on day 32), it looks like you’re only taking one step at a time, which means two things.
First, it means that the ‘next step’ doesn’t seem like it’s that big of a deal. After all, it’s only one step.
Second, it seduces you into making decisions you wouldn’t normally make because you’re not at your best; you’re already several steps away from where you should be.
Jonah thought he could outrun God and it would all go away.
We tend to think we can outrun God and it will all go away.
We think to ourselves that we can manage this problem on our own. That we don’t need to talk to anyone. We can just try harder and avoid having to peel back all the layers and have a shameful conversation with our spouse or children or grandkids about our behavior.
The truth is though, God is patient and kind and merciful. But He’s also SO in love with you that He is going to pursue you to the point that He will setup circumstances in your life that will draw you back to Him. Because He knows you can’t do this on your own.
You were never meant to.
Thoughts to Journal/Pray:
- How do you at times run from God like Jonah?
- What are some ways that you can better acknowledge God’s presence, even when you’re in a dark sinful place?
Reading: