Instead he hopped on a boat going the other direction. Time for him to take matters in his own hands. This was asking toooo much. Oh, what was his job? To be a light, to connect people in need with the Almighty, to preach the Word.
Uh oh, you do not mess with the Boss. His plans are way above ours and His Everlasting Arms can direct such havoc on our lives when you fail His plan. He is allllll about connections and relationships especially the relationship with Him. He created in the dna of the human being that they cannot live alone. Insular behavior is not part of His Divine Workings.
So He made a storm soooo huge and violent that the men of the ship became desperate for their lives. They cast lots and on the short end was Jonah. There Jonah had fessed that he served the God of Isreal who made the sea. "Toss me overboard and your sea will quiet down," he said. After much debate and prayer, they did so.
A huge fish swallowed up Jonah. After crying out to his Maker and repenting, God had the big fish vomit him on shore. Jonah went to that foreign land and gave the Word to the people. The people were sooo moved they repented and followed God.
To bad the story doesn't end with Jonah rejoicing. Instead he cops a real ugly bad attitude. He is angry and would rather die for that anger. Here is where you want to question Jonah or maybe you even feel like Jonah and want to question God. So let us have at it...
beginning with Jonah ...
Can't you see deeper into your prayer? Isn't what you pour out to God the same for people of Nineveh? Can't you see the evil water engulfing these people? Where the deep had them surrounded and seaweed wrapped about their head? Can't you see the Lord remembering these people as their life was ebbing away? Do you really believe what you cried out that Salvation comes from the Lord? Doesn't this salvation belong to all who take part?
Jonah, I understand anger. I have had it and it still comes to me. Most of the time anger comes from feeling out of control and my power grubbing hands wanting to still the storm. Thankfully, God is the Master of the sea and of the storm.
Dearest Master of the Divine Plan,
Once again you met me here in my search of those times when it is more chaotic than peaceful. Questions of why seem to overcome my quest to live out the how. Here You answer why You might take us through some rough patches, why You might have a 2bit job for us to carry out in joy and not in the bad attitude.
I am seeing deeper into Your Divine Plan. It is not just about what is going on in my life, rather it is about the outflow of my life into others. There are others in this Great Plan of Yours who need salvation, who need love, and who need to see You. No matter how I look at it, I cannot help but see that all of us humans are interconnected. We cannot hide ourselves away. We must have an outflow.
Thank You for the depth of this Window to Your very Soul! How brilliant are Your Masterful Ways.
~ always seeking for depth
Funny but amazing how God meets me! Here are some sermon thoughts that fit here:
' Awe 'Cannot limit God! Jonah tried and God brought about a storm, a whale of a fish, and a withering vine to break out of Jonah's box.
- something we are born with but we tend to lose it as we grow older.
- When we have lost our awe, we lose God's Presence in our lives!
Spiritual Growth is simply encreasing our sence of God's Presence .
Are you living fully?
Are you a resistor or a conductor?
'When an artist is a servant of the Work, the Work is better than the artist.' { love this! }
2bit jobs
directing unknown circumstances
Jonah 1
ReplyDeleteJonah Flees From the LORD
1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me."
3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.
4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish."
7 Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity." They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
8 So they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?"
9 He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."
10 This terrified them and they asked, "What have you done?" (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.)
11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?"
12 "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you."
13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they cried to the LORD, "O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for You, O LORD, have done as you pleased." 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him.
17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 2
Jonah's Prayer
1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2 He said:
"In my distress I called to the LORD,
and He answered me.
From the depths of the grave [a] I called for help,
and You listened to my cry.
3 You hurled me into the deep,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all Your waves and breakers
swept over me.
4 I said, 'I have been banished
from Your sight;
yet I will look again
toward Your holy temple.'
5 The engulfing waters threatened me, [b]
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But You brought my life up from the pit,
O LORD my God.
7 "When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered You, LORD,
and my prayer rose to You,
to Your holy temple.
8 "Those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving,
will sacrifice to You.
What I have vowed I will make good.
Salvation comes from the LORD."
10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Footnotes:
a. Jonah 2:2 Hebrew Sheol
b. Jonah 2:5 Or waters were at my throat
Jonah 3
Jonah Goes to Nineveh
1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you."
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city—a visit required three days. 4 On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." 5 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh:
"By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from His fierce anger so that we will not perish."
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened.
Jonah 4
Jonah's Anger at the Lord 's Compassion
1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."
4 But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?"
5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."
9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"
"I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die."
10 But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"