Well, it has been a long time since I have written on my blog. A lot of time to watch, listen, and, think about a lot of things that's happening in our world. Praise God that He is still sitting on the throne in heaven.
I heard a sermon this year about Jonah. And I couldn't help but think about what I had learned and thought about his experience with the Lord. As the young man was preaching, I was smiling, if not physically, I definitely was inside. I can see God's humor and compassion all the way through this experience. What we Christians need to know and understand is that God KNOWS us, inside and out even before we knew Him.
So the Lord told Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach/warn the Ninevites. But Jonah did not want to do that. He decided to go to Tarshish which according to some is Southwestern Spain. This isn't the first time the Lord sent Jonah somewhere (2 Kings 14:25). So Jonah knew the Lord and the Lord knew him. But he didn't want to warn the people of Nineveh. He didn't like those people. So on a ship he went. Lo and behold, a terrible storm came up. So after the sailors had cast lots to see whose fault this was, Jonah admitted it was his. And then he told them the reason for all this trouble. Do you know anyone today that disobeys a direct order from the Lord and tells everyone about it especially when that decision wreaks havoc on everyone around him? You know the story, they threw him overboard. He would rather die than to go and warn the people of Nineveh.
Now to me, this is where it gets interesting. People talk about a whale swallowing Jonah, but the Bible says that the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. The fish wasn't going to eat Jonah, he was going to transport him to the place the Lord had told Jonah to go. I see the Lord smiling inside. He knew that Jonah wasn't going to go to Nineveh. I see the Lord smiling and saying, ok you want to travel by sea, so be it. It took 3 days and 3 nights inside that fish before Jonah turned and talked to God. The Lord knows exactly how to correct each one of his kids. And how do you get away from the Lord's presence? He's everywhere, all the time. The Lord knew exactly what it would take for Jonah to change his mind and to do the right thing.
The great fish vomited him out right where he was supposed to be in the first place. Oh, the mercy of God. He went and preached the words that God gave him to preach. And everyone from the greatest to the least, turned to God and was delivered from death. Was Jonah Happy? No, he didn't like those people and he didn't want them saved. He knew that God would save them if they turned. And when the Lord came and talked to him afterwards, what did he say? He wanted to still die!
God's compassion for his creation is so much more than we give him credit for. And when I say that the Lord was smiling, I don't mean that God was laughing at Jonah because he wasn't. Have you never smiled at something that you knew about when everyone else was the total opposite because they didn't know? God loved Jonah just as He loves every person that He has created. His mercy never fails.
I love the story of Jonah. I see God's humor, but too many times we think and believe that God is always angry with us just waiting to catch us doing something wrong. It's so much the opposite. God doesn't want anyone to go to hell. And look what He did to help us to not go there. He sent Jesus to show us the right way to live. Living for the Lord is not difficult. We're not under the Old Testament law. We're under the New Testament of truth and grace. He sent his Holy Spirit to be in us and to teach us, and He said that He would never leave or forsake us! I'm so thankful that wherever I am, He is with me helping me to do His will and not my own. This is a process that takes some time. But in this process, the Lord is constantly
with us, helping us, forgiving us, teaching and loving us.
So the next time you read Jonah, see the love and compassion that God had for Jonah and remember that He is no respecter of persons.
