Jonah

I have this wonderful group of girlfriends that I meet with sporadically. The intention is that we get together monthly... but that never seems to work out quite like we think it will. We gathered last night for the first time since October (!) and caught up.

We have been walking through the book of Acts together (another way God is funny), but last night we decided (thanks Sara!) to dive into the book of Jonah. What do you typically think of when you think of Jonah? You think of a story of disobedience and a big fish... God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, but Jonah chose to disobey. And Jonah ended up in the belly of a big fish. So Jonah, from inside the belly of the fish, prays to God. This is what struck me in his prayer (Chapter 2):

²"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.

⁷ "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.

⁸ "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.

⁹ But I, with a song of thanksgiving, I will sacrifice to you.

What I have vowed I will make good.

Salvation comes from the LORD."

At the end of this prayer, the fish vomits Jonah onto dry land. God is funny. In the midst of us having to leave a church and people that we love, I keep seeing His hand in our story. Verses 7 and 9 are the ones that really hit me - here Jonah sat, unable to control his destiny or run away from what the Lord wanted, and yet found comfort in knowing that God will use his life for good things. And here I sit, unable to change the decision of the Church Council, but I keep thinking that maybe God has something bigger in store for us, and I need to - with a song of thanksgiving - sacrifice my place at Faith Covenant and follow his lead. Jonah saw, when he finally got to Nineveh, a hundred and twenty thousand people turned to the Lord.