The Wisdom of Jonah

Then I said, 'I have been cast out of Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple'. Jonah 2:4 (AMP)

Here we are, another devotional and another chance to say my piece on an issue that's quite close to heart at the moment.

Don't ask me how I'm doing at the moment... just... don't!

I am not doing great, not at all!

I've repeatedly tried to address the situation surrounding my little 'crush' on here and multiple times I've pulled it because I was sharing things that I really should have been using discretion over.

But that's a digression, the matter at hand is Jonah...

Jonah vs. the Fish

Today, I'm going to be spending a few moments of my time looking at Jonah and how, even though he was going through the proverbial you-know-what, he still recognised that there was always a second chance to call out to God.

What did he say? "Nevertheless...", so let's look at the definition of that for a moment: -

"In spite of that, notwithstanding, all the same"

They all imply the same, that regardless of the fact that he was in the belly of the large fish, or whale, whatever you want to call it, he still knew that he could call out to God and he would answer him.

Born to Disobey?

He had made a mistake, tried to run in the opposite direction to where God was calling him to go; Nineveh.

Did God strike him down? No.

Did He seem upset with Jonah? It depends how you want to look at it.

God is good and therefore can only do good, right?

You are good and do good... Psalm 119:68 (AMP)

So what of the fish then? Was that really a good thing?

Look at it like this, the men were upset with Jonah for bringing on a storm and were about to throw him overboard: -

And they said to another, "Come, let us cast lots, so we may learn who is to blame for this disaster..." v7 (AMP)

See that? They used the casting of lots "to decide"!

They didn't know what was going on and were just looking for someone to blame and Jonah happened to be the right man at the wrong time in the wrong place!

But watch this, I'm not exhorting Jonah's behaviour, simply pointing out that it was the fellow passengers on the boat that were playing their part in Jonah's little adventure.

God could very well have intervened at any point, but He didn't because He knew that the direction that Jonah was going in (away from where he should have been), was one that would ultimately lead him into the sea and eventually to the belly of the fish; his pre-appointed destiny.

Now the Lord had prepared (appointed, destined) a great fish to swallow Jonah... v17 (AMP)

A Pre-appointed Destiny?

Another way to read this is that in God forseeing Jonah's disobedience, He was in actual fact preparing for him a way of escape to bring him back to his destiny.

Why call it a "way of escape"? Easy.

The temptations in your life are no different what what others experience. And God is faithful. he will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure. 1 Cor 10:13 (NLT)

What that "way out" or "way of escape" looks like can vary from person to person, but it will always, always lead you back on track, back towards your destiny!

In Jonah's case, it was that he *SPOILER ALERT* was going Nineveh after all so it didn't matter which way he ran because, in this case, all roads led to Nineveh!

So whilst Jonah was free to disobey (he did have free will, after all!), he was not free to run away from his destiny!

The the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time... Jonah 3:1 (NLT)

`

In other words, Jonah was being given a second chance to do what he should have done first time around.

See the marvellous wisdom of God at work right there? He was able to use Jonah's disobedience to bring about good in the end.

Chapter three in its entirety is only ten verses long but these are some of the most powerful ten verses in the whole of Jonah's story because God had commissioned Jonah to speak to the people of Nineveh and warn them that their sacrilegious ways were going to result in their destruction at the hands of the Almighty.

However, Jonah being pre-appointed to be the speaker that would drive home the message for them to change their ways, it was always going to work out that way; he was always going to be the one that God would use to convince the king that their ways had to change!

Final Thought

Wow!

That speaks bundles to me lately, because having been told that a certain person 'doesn't like me that way', it's really upset me to the point where I have stopped going to my church.

I know, I know, "remember what you said last time in episode 15, bro'!"... but I too am only human and have major feels too, apparently!

What this has done is that it has shown me, face-to-face, exactly how I feel about her and, more crucially, just how deep these major feels go!

I'm going to put one more thing out there and that is simply that I would not have even entertained the idea to chase her had I not been given the signal by God Himself that I should.

In closing then, I've got some issues I need to work through before I can return because I want to be absolutely sure I'm not going to lose myself next time I see her.

I know, I know, I should carry on going, but I can't, not when I fear that my reaction next time I see her will be one borne out of emotions rather than stability.

Whatever happens, God is clearly, clearly up to something in this!

Watch the skies!