When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. Jonah 2:7-9
I don't know if you are familiar with the entire story of Jonah, or the reason as to why he landed himself in the belly of a great fish, but it makes for very good reading. The Assyrians were a cruel people and their reputation definitely preceded them. God wanted to give them the opportunity to repent and spare their lives. He instructed Jonah to go and preach repentance to them. Jonah however, felt as it they should not be given this opportunity to repent, so he took matters into his own hands and thus making a decision to go in the opposite direction. “Preach to them, I don’t think so!” Jonah had no intention of obeying what God had instructed him to do, or so he though.
I know this story is also familiar for some of us, not having gone forth and given the Word as instructed by God because we didn’t think a person or a group of persons deserved an opportunity to know Jesus based on what we know about them. However, what a loving and merciful God we serve, unlike man, a God who is full of compassion and grace; concerned about those who are lost. He has longsuffering towards us and not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
The point of this passage is that Jonah had not been totally willing to obey God's command. Well, I’ll say he was willing to a certain extent and then Jonah’s own way of thinking took over. God decided to give him a little time (three days and three nights) inside this fish to think about it (that is amazing within itself). I'm sure Jonah probably assumed it was his time to die, who wouldn’t, being swallowed by a fish; but God had everything under control. It also shows the protection of God for His people, for His purpose and for His glory. How He preserves us for His will to be done. He didn't allow Jonah to drown, but gave him a place and time to think about what he had been told to do initially. God has a way of getting our attention when He has called us to a specific work and we make a decision not to go forward.
I love what the scripture states, "When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee." Fainted, in this instance means quieted or soften; or to paraphrase, "when I finally came to myself, I remembered the Lord is in control of all things, so I started to pray and He heard me!" Sometimes God will douse our spirits by tossing us out of our comfort zone and right into a belly of a fish experience. Although, He should not have to go to that extreme in order to get us to a place of obedience.
We have to trust that God knows what's best for His people regardless of what we think or feel. His ways are not are ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. It's going to take the Spirit of God over our flesh, over our own intellect and over our own judgment for us to work in our purpose because it is not about us. Salvation is of the Lord. We don't get to pick and choose who should or should not be given the gift of eternal life or the chance to know Jesus in the forgiveness of their sins. Everyone needs to have the opportunity to know that Jesus came to save a dying world that they might have life and life more abundantly. The choice is not ours to make, but ours to give.
What has God told you to do that has you are running in the opposite direction? Let's avoid the belly experience and not only hear what the Lord is saying to us but be willing to obey!
Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde
I don't know if you are familiar with the entire story of Jonah, or the reason as to why he landed himself in the belly of a great fish, but it makes for very good reading. The Assyrians were a cruel people and their reputation definitely preceded them. God wanted to give them the opportunity to repent and spare their lives. He instructed Jonah to go and preach repentance to them. Jonah however, felt as it they should not be given this opportunity to repent, so he took matters into his own hands and thus making a decision to go in the opposite direction. “Preach to them, I don’t think so!” Jonah had no intention of obeying what God had instructed him to do, or so he though.
I know this story is also familiar for some of us, not having gone forth and given the Word as instructed by God because we didn’t think a person or a group of persons deserved an opportunity to know Jesus based on what we know about them. However, what a loving and merciful God we serve, unlike man, a God who is full of compassion and grace; concerned about those who are lost. He has longsuffering towards us and not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
The point of this passage is that Jonah had not been totally willing to obey God's command. Well, I’ll say he was willing to a certain extent and then Jonah’s own way of thinking took over. God decided to give him a little time (three days and three nights) inside this fish to think about it (that is amazing within itself). I'm sure Jonah probably assumed it was his time to die, who wouldn’t, being swallowed by a fish; but God had everything under control. It also shows the protection of God for His people, for His purpose and for His glory. How He preserves us for His will to be done. He didn't allow Jonah to drown, but gave him a place and time to think about what he had been told to do initially. God has a way of getting our attention when He has called us to a specific work and we make a decision not to go forward.
I love what the scripture states, "When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee." Fainted, in this instance means quieted or soften; or to paraphrase, "when I finally came to myself, I remembered the Lord is in control of all things, so I started to pray and He heard me!" Sometimes God will douse our spirits by tossing us out of our comfort zone and right into a belly of a fish experience. Although, He should not have to go to that extreme in order to get us to a place of obedience.
We have to trust that God knows what's best for His people regardless of what we think or feel. His ways are not are ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. It's going to take the Spirit of God over our flesh, over our own intellect and over our own judgment for us to work in our purpose because it is not about us. Salvation is of the Lord. We don't get to pick and choose who should or should not be given the gift of eternal life or the chance to know Jesus in the forgiveness of their sins. Everyone needs to have the opportunity to know that Jesus came to save a dying world that they might have life and life more abundantly. The choice is not ours to make, but ours to give.
What has God told you to do that has you are running in the opposite direction? Let's avoid the belly experience and not only hear what the Lord is saying to us but be willing to obey!
Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde
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