Let Me Not Wander

And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. (NIV) Don't you just love fresh starts. They're not always fresh, but they are a start. The God that we serve is a God of fresh starts. My mind goes to the many times that Christ reached out his hand, pulling a lame man to his feet, and saying, "...now go and sin no more." Or the woman caught in adultery, "...neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more." Only a God of grace will allow a swallowed man to repent. Praise Him.

But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD." (NIV) Jonah started by fleeing from God's command and God's purposes. He rejected the idea that the people of Nineveh should hear about God and have the opportunity to repent. They were enemies and deserved death and destruction. He runs and ends up swallowed up in God's overwhelming grace... "Grace?!? Don't you mean a whale?" No. Grace. Jonah recognized this grace. He speaks of it in the previous verse and is now stating that he is not like those who would forfeit their grace. In fact, he turns to thanksgiving because of this. His in the belly experience is a source of praise. He turns to God in sacrifice and obedience. He will keep his promises to God. This change of mind comes because of that last phrase, "... Salvation comes from the Lord." There is no other place to turn, but to Him....

"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. (NIV) This verse is the reason why I picked this passage. Grace is freely given to us. It is abundant, amazing grace. It abounds all sin, no matter how great the sin. But according to this, when you cling to the idol, you forfeit your grace. I have heard grace defined as the energy that God gives to do right. I would agree with this definition. It is grace that enables us to choose the right things to do, but if we cling to the idols, we forfeit this energizing grace. As you go through your day, if you find yourself lacking in the grace department, the grace to be patient with a co-worker, the grace to be loving (all of the time) to your 3rd grader, the grace to choose right when you are struggling with lustful thoughts, the grace to be obedient to your parents, no matter what they ask ... It doesn't matter what it is, if you are lacking in the grace, it may be because you are still wanting...

"When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. (NIV) Jonah is now saying to the Lord, not in a sarcastic way, but with a sincerity of heart in his desperate situation, "Remember me? I turned to you. It may have been on my death bed, but my prayer rose to you." It doesn't have to be a life-threatening situation for you to feel like your life is ebbing away. It could be any number of stresses of life or trials of life that are impacting you. It could simply be your kids or your boss or your spouse or you job... It doesn't matter. The point is that you humble yourself and turn to God.

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. (NIV) You have to wonder how deep Jonah sank. In the last verse he was talking about seaweed, and in this verse he is talking about being down with the roots of the mountains. Regardless, it was God who brought Jonah up. In this verse Jonah acknowledges that God was the one who brought him back up. He was not out of God's reach. Even though Jonah was trying to run from God, it was God who brought him back.

The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. (NIV) I have the tendency to take this very literally for Jonah. After he was tossed into the water over the side of the ship, the waves would have been overwhelming in the middle of the Mediterranean. Then as he began to sink, before he lost consciousness, the deep surrounded him and the seaweed was wrapped around his head. It is a miracle that he survived. The story of Jonah is a truly amazing story that we tend to forget or leave for the children's classes. Kids love the story. That a man was swallowed by a whale (or big fish) then spit back up in the direction that he was supposed to go... It almost sounds like a fairy tale. But the story of Jonah is a real story. It was a real man that was thrown into a real sea. He really shouldn't have made it, but God had a distinct purpose for him. God did something extraordinary with Jonah: He changed his heart. Whil...

I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' (NIV) In Jonah's prayer we see repentance. He knows that his actions have brought him far out of relationship with God, but he is turning. He is looking again toward the dwelling of God. In the Old Testament times this turning of the face, or looking toward something had the idea of squaring the shoulders. He obviously wasn't really doing that because he was in the belly of a fish, but it had to do with the mind and the heart. Setting your face toward something was telling about your mindset. Jonah was set on God. Where is your face set today? Are your shoulders set toward God? I need to be asking myself these questions today, not just in some things, but throughout the day. In everything we do, we need to look again toward God's holy temple.

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. (NIV) It is necessary to point out that God is in control in this situation. Notice that it says, "You hurled me..." Even though we know it was some fishermen that did the deed, Jonah attributes this action to God. Notice also that Jonah attributes ownership of the waves and the breakers to God. God is in control of all things and He owns all things. This isn't really all that difficult of a concept to understand. Some tend to make the sovereignty of God into a big debate. They are more concerned about arguing over the fine points or trying to convince others with their eloquent talk, than they are about how God's "in-controlness" is affecting their own daily walk with the Lord. Whether you can debate it or not, be glad that He is over all. That when the bad stuff happens to us, He is ...

He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. (NIV) For many, there is no prayer until they are in distress. I know I have been that way before. If I am honest, I am still like that now. It takes a stressful situation before I get (even figuratively) to my knees. For some it is when they are in the depths of the grave that they begin to cry out to the Lord. Whether the "depths of the grave" is speaking about what they feel like, or if it is like Jonah and they are genuinely near death, when they get to that point, prayer begins to happen. We know from other places in scripture ( Deut. 8:1-3 , Psalm 119:67 , Psalm 119:71 , I Peter 1:6-7 ) that trials and afflictions are used by God to bring us to Him. One of the first signs of that new closeness between a person and God is that calling out . The Bible is packed full of examples of people who ...

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. (NIV) I have never been in a fish. I hope to never be in a fish, but there have been many times that I have been in a similar predicament. I have been like Jonah. I have been walking the opposite way from the way God would have me to go. Sometimes it has been a life decision, like Jonah's. I knew that God wanted me to go a certain way, but I didn't want to go that way. Eventually I convinced myself that I was doing the right thing. I was acting "wisely" to some observers, but in my heart I knew the truth. Sometimes it isn't some major life decision, but a simple command. God's way has been laid out for me, but I just simply don't want to do it. I want to do things my way instead of His way. So I head the opposite direction and find myself in a fish (figuratively speaking). Have you ever been in a "fish" situation in your life? You have gone the wrong way and you end up in a smelly, ...