And You Thought You Were Having a Bad Day

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Sometimes it is hard to see how things can all work together for good. When Jonah was running from the calling God had placed on his life to go to Nineveh to preach to the souls there, he went onboard a ship. The ship set sail and there was storm came up. What good could come out of Jonah being disobedient and running? A mighty storm came up. This was obviously not good but Jonah recognized it was God. He told the sailors to cast him overboard. What good could come of being cast overboard? Obviously drowning was not good.

But God in his infinite wisdom had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. Talk about a situation just getting worse for Jonah. First he tells God no, he tries to run away, he is caught in a big storm at sea, he is cast overboard and now he is swallowed by a fish. Now THAT is a bad day. But no Jonah wasn't killed, instead he sat in the belly of the great fish (or whale) and prayed unto God. He repented for running from God. Can you imagine just how disgusting that must have been in the belly of a fish?

When Jonah was in the belly of the fish he probably thought there was no way he was getting out of the disgusting mess he was in but he continued praying and the fish spit him up on the shores of where God had told him to go. He then had the choice to go do what he was supposed to do or once again tell God no. This time however he did follow God's orders and the city repented.

Sometimes we are afraid of getting out of our comfort zone and we start running. It may take a little while to come to accept an honor or a challenge God has placed upon you. Sometimes we get a little overwhelmed but a true man or woman of God will rise to the challenge. It just sometimes takes a little longer for some people. Just don't be a Jonah and force yourself to go through a rough time to end up in being obedient to God in the end. It would have been so much simpler if Jonah had just obeyed to start with but like Jonah we are all human.

Be faithful, hang in there. When he states his will, he will make the way when there seems to be no way.