Jonah 1:14 – 16 “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.’ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.”
Jonah made a big mistake. Huge. But isn’t it great that God will work even through our mistakes?
These heathen sailors, who just moments before had cried out to their pagan gods, at last called out to the One True God! Yeah, sure. Jonah messed up. He wouldn’t have had to go through all the nastiness of living for three days in a whale’s guts, surrounded by dead fish and whatever other refuse happened to end up there, if he’d obeyed God in the first place. But God is sovereign no matter what choices we make. And God chose to work through this particular mistake of Jonah’s, so that these sailors might be introduced to Him.
Friend, have you messed up? Have you found yourself in a whale’s belly of your own making? Take heart. God may not have gotten you into the mess, but He can certainly get you out of it. In the meantime, He may just use your circumstances to perform a few miracles you weren’t expecting.
Dear Father, I’m sorry for making poor choices and getting myself into messes sometimes. Please forgive me and help me out of my messed-up circumstances. And while You’re doing that, please show Yourself to the people around me.
Amen
Amen! Amen!
Jean
So true Renae. -just taught a Sunday School lesson on this very topic last Sunday. The thing that truly amazed me THIS time with Jonah’s story is that God called him to do something he didn’t have a passion for. I think so many times we use the excuse, “God hasn’t burdened me for that age group, or for those people” – God wasn’t concerned that Jonah might not like the people or the place or even the job He called him to serve in. And thank him thathe does work through us and with us evenwhen we mess up. thanks for sharing some “coffee” with me this morning!
-Dawn
Thanks, Jean and Dawn. And Dawn, great point. We should obey God because He is God, whether we want to or not. 🙂